Beverley Pubs W to Z and some strays
Wheatsheaf
North Bar Within. See the Beaver.
White Horse Hotel
Hengate. Also known as Nellie’s.
Nellie’s is an impressive architectural survival story, and quite deservedly a Grade II Star listed building (DoE serial No.9/84/50) as well as one of the finest surviving examples of an intact 19th Century (very possibly earlier) pub interior in the north of England. Dugdale (an emissary of Charles the second) allegedly wrote his pedigrees of families resident in Beverley and the East Riding from the White Horse in 1666.
The property was described in a Corporation lease to widow Susannah Sokill of Beverley dated August 1732 as: - “two messuages or tenements containing nine low rooms and 12 chambers being all covered with tiles, viz. all the front (except the gatestead) over the hall and barr and back part of the said gatestead with flat tiles, the remainder with pan tiles. And three stables covered with thatch, one court garth, two other little garths thereto adjoining on the south side of Hengate. Also one garden place adjoining on Silverlace Lane containing 56 yards in length and 13 yards breadth” (PE 1/47).
The Census of 1851 recorded Frances Burrell a widow aged 56, his two sons, two daughters, a sister, a grand daughter, a visitor, one male outdoor servant and one female house servant present at the White Horse. In a later Corporation lease of December 1862 to Francis Burrell, the property was described as “all that house or dwelling house in Hengate … used as an inn or public house and known by the name or sign of the White Horse with the stables, brewhouse, saddlers shop, yards and conveniences thereto adjoining. Also a cottage adjoining thereto on the west side” (PE 1/204).
This later description shows how the pub had been enlarged by this point and acquired buildings used for the ancillary services offered by the inn and victualler.
David Neave writing in the revised Pevsner guide (page 308) states: - “The curving facade of Nos.18-24 [Hengate] suggests 17th Century or earlier timber-framing, brick fronted in the early 18th Century. The main section forms the White Horse Hotel, which retains a remarkable array of 19th Century public-house fixtures and fittings. Here also can be seen posts and brackets of a bressumer some two feet behind the later frontage”. Another local historian John Markham stated that: - “the White Horse property was owned by St. Mary’s [church] until 1928 when Francis Collinson (previously a tenant) bought it. He was succeeded by his daughter Nellie whose name virtually supplanted its official title”.
Samuel Smith’s Brewery of Tadcaster bought the White Horse from the Collinson family in 1976 and it remains in their ownership.
Nellie’s gas lamps, narrow passages, small rooms and lack of exits have always been of concern to the authorities and the Hull Daily Mail reported in 1989 that the “Police concerned with the level of safety at Nellie’s called off an inspection following all clear from the council inspector”. Fortunately these concerns have not caused too many alterations, however more recently a rather unnecessary and possibly ill-advised “eating area cum games room” has been added to the rear of the building. More recent decisions to ban dogs etc., are foolish in what remains a market town and should be re-thought. However, Nellie’s remains a favourite pub of mine, but I go in far less since they started making daft rules.
Select victuallers: - 1705 John Harpham; 1708 William Chevey; 1715 John Watson; 1725 Mathew Remington; 1732 Susannah Sokill; 1753 Thomas Berriman; 1770 Wm Berriman; 1787 Robert Marshall; 1791-1805 Israel Marshall; 1806-15 Nathan Hart; 1823-46 William Burrell; 1848-89 Francis Burrell; 1892-1929 Francis Collinson; 1937-39 Mrs Elizabeth J Collinson; 1987 Bruce Westoby.
White Lion
location unknown.
The Corporation Minute books record: - “leave to Charles Tenyson, grocer, to put out a bow window in the house lately known by the Sign of the White Lyon, on the 4th April 1768”. Sadly the whereabouts of the pub are unknown but it is likely that this was simply an earlier name for one of the other known sites, possibly within the dings.
White Swan Inn
Market Place.
Ivan and Elizabeth Hall’s survey of Beverley’s older properties suggested the former White Swan Inn was built between 1740 and 1758.
The 1851 Census recorded Michael Hind aged 66, his wife, one daughter, one son, a grand daughter, one female house servant and a visitor present at the inn, and the Census of 1881 listed Matilda Harris “joiner’s wife” as the head of the family aged 31 (her husband David Harris, listed as victualler from 1877-79, was not recorded). Also present were her four sons and four daughters all below the age of 12.
Although it continued to be listed in the trade directories until 1926 the White Swan had been made redundant in 1925, closing in the February of that year when compensation of £600 was paid to the owners the Hull Brewery Co Ltd. David Neave writing of Saturday Market in the updated Pevsner said: - “some good shop signs including... the figure of a white swan on No.23, a former inn”. The sign is still in-situ (although a later replacement) on what is currently Michael Phillips jewellers shop. The now well-known sign was described by The Rambler in 1939 as “a finely carved figure of this beautiful bird, round whose neck is decked a golden crown or chain- a mark of a first-class house of entertainment. These, as licensed premises, were closed some years ago.” The present replacement swan has no ring of gold and is quite plain. The building has been Grade II listed since 1969 but the frontage has been greatly altered since its days as a pub (DoE serial No.9/323/69).
Select victuallers: - 1791-92 John Allison; 1814/15 John Donaldson; 1823 James Donaldson; 1826-59 Michael Hind; 1864-70 William Browsho’; 1872 Frederick Ward; 1877-79 David Harris; 1882 Charles Kitchen; 1887 George Leader; 1889 Charles Leader; 1892 C Witherwick; 1897 Charles Voase; 1899 John Edward Hustler; 1906 Mary Jane Emeny; 1915-19 Frederick Curtis; 1921 Charles Mathew Lister; 1925-26 Walter Binks.
Windmill Inn
Lairgate. Also known as the Carpenter’s Arms.
The former Carpenter’s Arms was a beer-house once owned by Mair & Clarke brewers of Wilbert Lane, which later became known as the Windmill Hotel. The change in title was recorded in the local press circa 1844, however it continued to be recorded (e.g. in Ward’s Almanac of 1874-1877 and 1894) as the Windmill Inn for some time.
Owners John Smith & Co altered the property in the autumn of 1912 (BOBE/6, 1912-17), and an 18th Century corner cupboard from the Windmill Hotel, Lairgate is preserved in the sitting room of No.8 St. John Street according to notes made by the Beverley Civic Society. Windmill Walk is now situated alongside the Windmill public house, and runs between Lairgate and Toll Gavel.
Select victuallers: - 1791 Robert Reveley; 1806-15 Robert Scruton; 1823 James Dutton; 1826 Thomas Dutton; 1828/29 William Ripon; 1831 John Simpson; 1834 Thomas Brown; 1840-46 Hannah Brown; 1848-77 William Smith; 1879-92 John Malton; 1894 Elizabeth Malton; 1897-1921 John Acred; 1929-30 William Acred; 1937-46 Albert Edward Johnson; 1955 J L Parker; 1975 Mrs Battersby; 1987 Alan Wilkinson.
Woolpack Inn
Westwood Road. Also known as the Boy & Barrel.
Originally known as the Boy & Barrel, there is a history and development of this pub is on display inside the building in which it states that it had been built as two cottages circa 1825/26 and became known as a pub circa 1831 [probably following the Beer House Act of 1830]. It also states it was renamed the Woolpack in 1840, however the Publican’s Retail Spirit Licence recorded it as the Woolpack slightly earlier in 1837.
A Victorian advertisement for the Woolpack stated “the premises are commodious and favourably situated for carrying on a good business, being close to the principal entrance to the Westwood and some distance from other licensed houses”. At that time it had its own brew-house and a three-stalled stable to enable travellers to put up their horses. Some time later - circa 1889, Richard Harrington sold the business to Cooper & Close, wine & spirit merchants of York. At that time the pub had a yard, brew-house, stable, granary, wash-house and other buildings. In 1896 the Hull Brewery Co leased the property and in 1936 bought the pub outright.
A photograph of circa 1926 from the former Hull Brewery archive (see left) shows the Woolpack very similar to how it appears today. Sadly a wonderful gas-lit glass globe bearing the Woolpack’s name hung from an elegant bracket is no longer in place. Writing of Beverley inn signs in 1939, the Rambler noted “ The Wool Pack in Westwood Road, was the old emblem of a Wool Merchant. It is pleasing to write that the latter sign has in recent months been replaced. The new erection is a very imposing two-sided painting depicting a merchant or merchants travelling in the country with horses laden with Wool Packs. This indeed is very striking evidence that a revival of the old-time inn signs is being revived.”
The Woolpack has Grade II listed building status that was awarded in 1987 (DoE serial No.7/409/87) and retains a very warm and welcoming atmosphere cherished by its locals.
Select victuallers: - 1831-34 John Hutton; 1837-40 John Widdall; 1846-55 John Hutton; 1858-89 Richard Harrington; 1892 R Allison; 1897-1905 David Steels; 1915 Mrs Ellen Hutchinson; 1916-21 Mrs Emma Hebden; 1929 James Pearson; 1937-39 William T Richardson; 1965-67 E S Boynton; 1975 A K Railton; 1987 Alan Glue.
World’s End
Keldgate?
Another of George Armstrong’s alleged reminiscences (possibly a colloquial name for the Duke of York), of which he recalled “Roebottom kept the World’s End”, and is a fitting end to this list.
Following the so-called Beer House Act of 1830 many small pubs sprang-up around England and many new pub sites and names were listed in the trade directories. Many of the victuallers were mentioned by name only in the directories and inevitably moved on often within a year, leaving a long list of “stray” references that have been very difficult to tie in with any of the known pubs. They are listed here for the sake of completion in the absence of any further evidence – if you can match them up with any of the Beverley pubs please get in touch.
Strays
Butcher Row
1867 – Jane Lundie, beer retailer
1864 – Thomas Stanley, beer retailer
1840 - William Wilkinson, beer retailer
Dyer Lane
1834 – Robert Skipper, beer retailer
Grovehill Lane
1840 – John Sheperdson, beer retailer
Highgate
1872- Miss Mary Jane Riggall, beer retailer
Hull Road
1834 – Samuel Sunman, beer retailer
Keldgate
1834 – James Robinson, beer retailer
Lairgate
1858-59 - Thomas Drewry, beer retailer
1855 - John Ramshaw, beer retailer
Market Place
1864 - Thomas Hood, beer retailer
1867 - John Warcup, beer retailer
Mill Lane
1874 -1877 G Petch, beer-house
1894 - Eliza Cumberland, beer-house
Minster Moorgate
1840 – Hannah Duncan, beer retailer
1834 – Peter Duncum, beer retailer
North Bar Within
1864-67 - Ann Andrews, beer retailer
1834 – John Andrew, beer retailer
North Bar Without
1834 – William Witty, beer retailer
Norwood
1867 – Thomas Dent, beer retailer
1840 – George Lister, beer retailer
Toll Gavel
1814/15 – Pearson Newton, beer retailer
Archived by
the British Library