History of Warwick Pubs

Written by John Crossling (JohnCrossling@aol.com).

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. This canalside pub is well known in Warwick and gives it's name to an area of the town.  
It was originally a beerhouse and was listed as such in 1881 when Samuel Reynolds had to run two businesses 
to make ends meet. We believe it has had only 11 licensees from 1862 till 1959 when trade directories 
stopped listing names.  The Neale family tok over in 1904 and ran it for 27 years.  First the husband 
then the wife who took over in 1912 and as she continued one can only assume that Mr. Neale was killed 
in The Great War.
The licensees listed are as follows:
1862  John Mills						1880 Mrs Stubbins
1881-1891 Samuel Reynolds (shop keeper)			1892-1895 W.H.Burgess
1896-1902 Seth Spilsbury					1903 Mrs Spilsbury
1904-1911 Thomas Neale					1912-1931 Mrs Neale; 
in 1927 Kelly's directory lists the licensee as Mrs E.E.Leale and this listing carried through to 1928; 
in 1929 her name is recorded as Mrs E.E.Neal and so we assume that this is the same person throughout 
the 20 years.
1932-1933 Wm Wills					1934-1949 Geo Henry Clark
1950-1956 Mrs D.M.Whittell

CARPENTERS ARMS Listed at 4 Chapel Street in 1849 with Thomas Curtis as licensee; however a reference 
in Tallis has it existing at the same address from 1835-1862. There is a reference to the Coventry Arms 
existing from 1872 at this address and it is possible that this earlier pub was simply renamed. 

CASTLE ARMS Tallis refers to a pub at 2 Smith Street from 1834-1970 and the trade directories agree with him. 
Carriers called at the pub on Saturdays between 1892 and 1915. For the first two years there was only one 
each weekend but from then on it ranged from two to four calling with the peak years being between 1895-1899 
and 1911-1914. 
There were 10 licensees listed up until 1956 with most of them staying about 10 years on average. They were: 
1862 George Page 					1874 Mary Page 
1880-1883 Thomas Alfred Butler 				1884-1890 Mrs Butler 
1891-1899 Wm Dunn 					1900-1915 George Smith 
1916-1918 John George Smith 				1919-1923 C. H. Langston 
1924-1932 John G Pearson 				1933-1944 John Hammond 
1945-1956 Chas. H. Goodenough 
Continued to be listed as a pub until 1971 but no names recorded. After it closed as a pub it remained 
empty for several years and now the building is a church meeting place and coffee shop. 

CASTLE HOTEL & COMMERCIAL INN Tallis makes reference to the Castle Hotel & Excise House in the Market 
Place from 1788-1855. Kemp's History of Warwick & Its People (1905) states "The Corn Exchange on the 
right at the commencement of Market Street occupies the whole or a portion of the site of an inn called 
the Castle which had a portico stretching over the pavement".  The map of 1788 indicates the hotel and 
lists a Mr. Hiorns as the Landlord. The trade directories list the following landlords: 
1830 Robert Godfrey (1833 James Godfrey)			1849-1850 Jas.Bryan 
In the early part of the Nineteenth Century this must have been an important inn with coaches arriving 
and departing daily. These included the "Royal Mail" between London and Birmingham; the "Royal Express" 
between London and Manchester and Liverpool; the "Telegraph" to Birmingham; the "Regulator" between 
Leicester or Oxford and Birmingham. The "Royal Pilot" between Coventry and Bristol via Cheltenham and 
Bath called three days as week. There were also a number of coaches that originated from the hotel. 
The "Amicable" ran every afternoon to Birmingham; whilst the "Union" ran to Cheltenham three days a week. 
There was a daily coach to Leicester called the "Sovereign", some days this had morning and afternoon 
departures. Finally there was a frequent local service to Leamington which ran every day, on the hour, 
between 8am. and 7pm. 

CAVALIER INN The Victoria County History states that this was in a building dating back to circa. 1500. 
It was originally a three bay house, the central bay of which was an open hall later floored over. 
The west bay was evidently a solar while the east was servi ce rooms. At the start of this Century 
curved wind braces and queen-strut roof trusses were exposed at first floor level. There was a large 
barn-like structure, dating from 1600, which overlapped the west end of the house at the rear and it 
probably served as a malting.  The Warwick County Records Office record this pub as existing between 
1694 and 1893 however it is strange that it does not make an appearance in the trade directories towards 
the end of its existence. 

COACH AND HORSES Tallis refers to the existence of this pub in Castle Street between 1850-1862. 
The following landlords are listed in the trade directories: 
1849 Richard Hames 					1862 George Daniels 
Kemp in 1905 states that the Coach and Horses was next to the Warwick Cottage Hospital and Dispensary 
which is next to the Gold Cup (now the Ricochet). If this is correct it must be the small office 
building that is now next door to the Aylesford Restaurant. 

COVENTRY ARMS Listed at 4 Chapel Street (see also The Carpenters which has also been recorded at this address)
by Tallis as a pub from 1872-1910). The trade directories list the pub between 1862 and 1911 during which 
time it had only 9 licensees with William Morby having it longest - a total of 18 years. The licensees 
listed are: 
1862 Robert Box 						1874 Martha Box 
1880-1883 William Bond (licensed victualler) 		1884-1885 J.A.Higham 
1886-1904 Wm.Morby 					1905 Owen A.Jones 
1906-1907 W.Mansell 					1908-1909 Wm Henry Taylor 
1910-1911 J.E.Marsh The pub was no longer listed after this date. 

CROSS KEYS (1) The first pub with this name stood on the west side of Castle Street and it was described 
as being brick built with stone dressings. It had five bays of two stories with attics, and a central 
projecting porch and round-headed entrance arch. It was recorded at the Record Office between 1661 and 
1788 and it is marked on the town map of the latter date as being owned by Lord Warwick. 
It was later demolished when the castle grounds were expanded. 

CROSS KEYS (2) The second pub with this name was situated at 24 Friars Street. It is first recorded in 
1828 when it was run by Mary Eborall, and in 1841, Joseph Robbins
It is then next listed in 1849 and from then until its last mention in 1908 it had eight landlords. 
1849 William Roberts 					1862 Joseph Farmer 
1874-1881 William Buckingham 				1882-1895 William Jeffs 
1896-1899 S. Reynolds 					1900-1905 Thomas Pullen 
1906 Thomas Mansell 					1907-1908 Harry Green 
When this pub was first recorded it had local carriers stopping there on their way out to villages west of 
Warwick. Two ran on Saturdays, one to Claverdon operated by Joseph Middleton and another to Norton Lindsey 
run by Thomas Court. 

CROSS TAVERN It may come as a surprise to many that Warwick Court House (the Town Hall) stands on the site 
of an early pub and may incorporate part of it. The cross roads on which it stands was once the main 
intersection in the town and it was known as the High Cros s. In 1510 a house owned by William Edmondes 
called "Edmondes Place" or the "Cross Tavern" was granted to William Compton as part of his entitlement 
as keeper of the Castle. It was held by two of his successors but in 1554 it was granted to the bailiff 
and burgesses as a common hall to hold the borough courts. Evidently their title was not secure as it was 
mentioned amongst the properties that the burgesses tried to secure from the Earls in 1571 and in 1576 it 
was successfully revived with the town a acquiring the property. 
In 1694 it was damaged in the Great Fire of Warwick and in 1724 the corporation resolved to repair or 
rebuild the Court House. Evidence was produced at the enquiry that it was a good old strong building 
but so unsafe as to have to be supported by pro ps. It was eventually decided to rebuild it and work 
began the following year continuing until 1730. Francis Smith, a borough alderman was the architect. 
The cost from 1724-1731 was £2,254 which was a severe strain on the corporation finances and produced 
considerable opposition however it resulted in the fine building that is seen today. 

CROWN The Victoria County History makes a brief mention of an inn by this name existing on the High Street 
in 1545 but no further details are given. 

CROWN HOTEL The Crown Hotel at the junction of Coventry Road and Coten End is first mentioned in 1828 when 
it was called the Crown Commercial Inn and Bowling Green. Its address was given as the junction of 
St. John's Street and Coventry Ro ad. Later in 1885 it was listed at 2 Coventry Road. Up until the 1960s 
the were 19 licensees listed with two staying a long time: 
1828-1829 Harriet Hodgins 				1833 oseph Phillips
1849 Richard Atkins 					1862 John Bister
1874 Robert M. Duff 					1880-1897 Samuel Warren
1898-1899 H.R. Morgans 					1900 G.B. Berry 
1901 T.B. Manning 					1902-1903 Mrs. Manning 
1904-1905 George Thomas Royle 				1906-1907 Isaac White
1908-1909 Mrs. Ruby White  				1910-1916 W.W. Georoseph Burton 
1948-1950 Clifford Uphill 				1953 Vivian T. Lewis
1956 H.A. Osbourne  					1959 Walter George Whitmore 				
Warwick Library has a good photograph of the hotel taken in 1901. 




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