The King's Head Hotel: a pub?
So, in Part 1 we looked at the very recent history of the King's Head Hotel which has more recently been known as the Ramada by Wyndham, and this was prompted by an article on the Leicestershire Live website about the possible future of the hotel.
Last week we looked at the various types of pub-related establishments that have existed over the years, and concluded that the King's Head was, or had been both a coaching inn and a posting house.
 |
| Extract from the Sun (London) 19 August 1830 |
This week we shall look at the King's Head in relation to pubs and their offering in the nineteenth century.
This is part of the description of the function of a public house:
"The public house was the place to go for discussion and argument, and often, those who were unable to read would go to the pub to listen to the latest news being read aloud from the newspaper. Also, property sales were often held in public houses, as were shows, like the Nottingham annual Auricula and Polyanthus Show, which were often followed by a dinner. Back rooms of pubs often became home to working-class organisations, like friendly societies and later trade union branches."
Sales
While I have found nothing as yet to support the first of those statements in relation to the King's Head, there is, however, plenty of evidence relating to property sales, meetings of various groups, and events related to specific local societies, taking place at the King's Head.
Property - in the loosest sense of the word - sales often took place at the King's Head. The earliest reference to this I have found is in 1806 when oak timber that had been felled from The Outwoods was being auctioned at the King's Head Inn (1), the house of Mr Fowler. Interestingly, the sale, which began at 2pm, was preceded by a dinner:
 |
| From the Derby Mercury of 13 February 1806, pg 2 |
An early recorded sale of actual property was advertised in the Leicester Journal of 19 April 1811 the property in this case being seven freehold dwelling houses in the yard of the Wheat Sheaf on Wards End. The auction would be held by Mr Boott, at the King's Head Inn, and particulars could be obtained prior to the sale from Mr Fowler at the aforementioned establishment.
The King's Head was also the venue for the sale of other licensed establishments and in April 1874, an old and well established public house, with a brewhouse, extensive stabling, malt offices, yard, outbuildings and saddlers shop, all set in about 800 square yards, known as the Golden Fleece, was offered for auction there.
Properties sold at the King's Head weren't just in Loughborough: in March 1814 a valuable freehold estate was auctioned at the King's Head Inn, where Mr Fowler was the proprietor. This estate at Burton-on-the-Wolds, approximately 5.5 miles from Loughborough, was extensive, and including a house, barn and other outbuildings, as well as land:
 |
| Extract from Leicester Journal 25 February 1814, pg 4 |
Perhaps one of the most important nearby local estates to be auctioned at the King's Head was Quorndon Hall, in 1832. Quorn Hall was billed as a highly celebrated sporting residence in the heart of the Leicestershire countryside. Sporting, of course, means horse-related, and there was also available as part of the sale, a magnificent range of stabling for about 50 horses. The whole of the estate which comprised about 117 acres, was freehold. The most recent occupant was Lord Southampton.
 |
| Extract from the Nottingham Review and
General Advertiser for the Midland Counties 23 November 1832, pg 2 |
In 1824, although the auction of the freehold manors and estate of Dowsby Hall in Lincolnshire was taking place at the Greyhound Inn in Falkingham, particulars relating to the sale were available from the King's Head Inn, in Loughborough.
Auctions of property continued well into the 20th century. In April 1919, auctioneers W. and F. Armstrong auctioned lots of freehold property, including nos. 43 and 45 Hastings Street (a shop and a dwelling house); nos. 56, 41 and 52 Paget Street; nos. 5,6,7 and 8 Conery Terrace and Conery Passage; no. 196 Freehold Street, a shop and dwelling house at the corner of Freehold Street and Queen’s Road; Fairview Cottage on Queen’s Road; no. 45 Queen’s Road; 2 villas and stables also on Queen’s Road; nos. 9 and 10 School Street; nos. 10 and 12 Burleigh Road; nos. 11, 13 and 15 Chapman Street. Note: not all of these were actually purchased on the day.
In addition to properties, numerous effects were also auctioned off, and the King's Head was regularly the place to go to obtain a copy of the sales catalogue. In 1831, all the useful household furniture and other effects, that belonged to the Rev. Charles Allsopp, now deceased, and which included a four-poster bed, bedding, tables, chairs, wardrobes, chests, kitchen utensils, brewing and dairy utensils, carriage and animals, as well as several acres of cultivated land, was auctioned at the vicarage in Shepshed: catalogues could be obtained from the King's Head Inn.
In a similar vein, catalogues for the 5-day auction of the extensive library of books, and other household furniture and effects (days 4 and 5), belonging to the Rev. William Casson, now deceased, were also available from the King's Head, Loughborough, the sale taking place during September 1829. And what self-respecting local historian wouldn't have popped into the King's Head in January 1831 to pick up a catalogue for the sale of the effects of Saville John Hyde, Esq., latterly of Quorn, which included not only a pianoforte and a library of books, but more specifically, a "fine copy of Nichol's History of Leicestershire, in eight volumes, and many other rare and valuable works."
Catalogues for sales of animals were also available from the King's Head in Loughborough, for example, in 1825 when Mr Brearey was selling by auction an entire stud of valuable hunters, young horses, broodmares, and the celebrated stallion, Ranzleman, as well as riding equipment upon the death of George Redmond Hulbert, Esq., of Aston Lodge in Derby, catalogues were available from a variety of establishments including the Loughborough King's Head.
And, animals were not the only biological thing on sale at the King's Head. In October 1832 Mr Slater was selling his "new genuine winter tares for seed" both from his corn, hop, seed and cheese warehouse in Castle Donnington, and from the King's Head Inn in Loughborough, the latter every market day, from 1pm to 4pm.
Similarly, in 1861 there was a sale of cattle on Thursday 27 June, and on the next day, Friday 28, this was followed by the annual meeting of the Loughborough Association for the Prosecution of Felons at the King's Head.
Society meetings and dinners
As mentioned above, many societies met, and many special dinners have taken place in the lovely setting of the King's Head Hotel. Here are some examples from across the ages.
In December 1834, it was announced in the Nottingham review and General Advertiser for the Midland Counties that the Grand Lodge of Freemasons had agreed to the appointing of a new lodge, the Rancliffe Lodge, which would hold its meetings on the second Tuesday of each month, at the house of John and George Fowler, which was the King's Head Hotel, Loughborough.
In May 1852, the Trustees of the Burton Charity held their meeting at the King's Head Hotel. At this particular meeting, the trustees were presented with a petition from Loughborough inhabitants, requesting a reduction in the proposed tuition fees.
Until about 1901, the Howe and Charnwood Lodge of the Freemasons held their meetings from April to November in the King's Head, but then moved to the Town Hall.
In April 1928, the annual meeting of the Loughborough Boat Club, which was presided over by Mr F.W.P. Simpson, was held at the King's Head Hotel. The society had had a good year, and the regatta had been particularly successful, and a new boathouse had been built at Zouch.
The Loughborough Building Society was founded in 1867, and 100 years later, in 1967 a celebratory dinner was held at the King's Head Hotel, with honoured guests including the then mayor of Loughborough, Councillor J.E. Hammond.
In early 1999, the Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce hosted a luncheon at what was at the time known as the Jarvis King's Head Hotel. The event was for the directors of the National Forest with whom the Chamber wished to forge a close working relationship, in support of the programme of transformation of around 200 square miles of land partly in Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire, where already about two million trees had been planted and were now thriving.
Financial affairs
Meetings and sales related to finances often took place in the King's Head Hotel. Here's an interesting event from 1828:
At the King's Head, the house of Mr Fowler, an auction was held by B. Payne, on Thursday 7th February at 3pm, at which "One Share in the Loughborough or Soar Navigation" was to be sold.
Meetings related to bankruptcy were relatively frequent:
The occasion in 1826 concerned the case of S. Peters, a grocer at Shepshed; in 1831, the case of William Bissil, a bowl manufacturer of Quorndon was heard, and the bankruptcy case relating to T. Crane, a grocer, took place in 1837.
The building itself
In January 1832 the Leicester Journal reported that a new dining room had opened at the King's Head in Loughborough, and more than 100 gentlemen celebrated with a dinner, accompanied by excellent wine, and Mr Barker, who sang 'in the best style'.
As we already know from last week's post, the Bull's Head coaching inn was demolished during a period of road widening in the late 1920s-early 1930s, and replaced with the building we see today. This was also the case for the King's Head so the old building was pulled down and the new building, with its Neo-Georgian frontage onto the widened High Street is the building we see today.
In 1953 some alterations to the relatively new King's Head building were made. I have an inkling that these alterations may have been completed by the Loughborough building firm of Corah, but, because archives are currently closed I have not been able to access the plans.
Conclusion
I think we can conclude from the evidence above that the King's Head, a posting house, until the demise of the mail coach, in favour of transporting mail by train (around 1830), became solely an inn, rather than a public house as I might have suggested last time.
Next week we'll look into the origins of the hotel's name.
(1) The inn
The inn was often built along the main public highway, or around a market, and served passing trade, as well as the more wealthy inhabitants of a place, like merchants, guild members, aldermen, justices and the richer pilgrims. See more at Spotlight on the King's Head Part 2.
Posted by lynneaboutloughborough 7 March 2021
You are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follow:
What was before the kings head?
ReplyDeleteHello Anonymous! The former King's Head building, which was most recently the Ramada Jarvis, was built in 1929 by Moss & co. and replaced an older building on the same site, also called the King's Head, but I don't know how long that had been there. Ther were certinaly plenty of buildings noted on the 1737 map. Thank you for reading the blog and taking the time and trouble to comment. Lynne
Delete