Spondon Village

A Village Remembered

The Inns and Pubs of Spondon

Since the earliest recorded history there has been an alehouse in Spondon. In the Domesday Book of 1086 A.D., it was written that Stori, a Saxon, lived there with land for five ploughs, fourteen villeins, two smallholders, a church, a priest, and a mill. Undoubtedly ale would be one of the by-products of the grain oats and barley, ale being the principal beverage of the early and middle ages. The Vicarage still had a brew house attached to it as late as the eighteenth century.

In the year 1340 A.D., hops or malted oats which were drying in the malthouse caught fire. The blaze spread rapidly to cottages, and soon after, over half the village including the church had been destroyed. Temporary relief from taxes was granted by King Edward III during the re-building period.

In 1577, the Domestic State Papers of Elizabeth, Vol.118, No.25 included this item;

To the Right honorable Lordes my very good Lordes of the Quene's Majesties moost honorable privie Councell

The Certyfycat of the namys of all such as do kepe Taverns, Innys and Ale Howsys within the Countie of Derbie made by Sir Francis Leek knyght Justice of Peasse and Custos Rotulorum within the said Countie And other the Quene's Majesties Justices of Peasse there according to the letters of her heighnesse most honorable privie Councell to them in that behallff directed .....

(extracted as follows) ... Hundredum de Appulton in Comitatu Praedicto:

CHADSDEN: Raffe Brownell, Christopher Daught, Thomas Holingworth,
Richard Ferne. Alehowsis iiij.

SPONDON: Henry Lorkene, Alehous j.

Summa totalis of all the Alehowsys within the Hundred of Appulton lxj.
Of all the innkeepers, v.

We cannot be sure that Henry Lorkene kept the "Malt Shovel', but this is Spondon's oldest inn, and still occupies land in Potter Street near the ancient center of the village. Over the many centuries the 'Malt' has been rebuilt several times. The present structure still incorporates some of the ancient fabric and low ceilings, though the coaching stables and malt houses no longer exist. In the 1827 and 1835 A.D. directories, the maltster at the Malt Shovel was listed as William Harrison. In 1850 Walter Snow was the victualler, to be replaced in 1857 by Robert Ford from the Union.

By 1861 Spondon had a population of 1,523 and there were also two more beer retailers, James Storer and Samuel Thornhill. Meanwhile the Malt Shovel was now occupied by Timothy Winfield; the Union was being kept by Benjamin Twigg and Thomas Coxon was the proprietor of the White Swan. Alongside of the Malt Shovel was "The Union" inn, kept in 1835 by Robert Ford. He moved to the Malt Shovel in 1857. Later, the Union was kept by Thomas Coxon, a son of the schoolmaster and the father of Joseph Coxon who married my great-aunt Clara Porter. She lived around the corner with her family in one of the two cottages at the junction with Hall Dyke. Thirty years later in 1891, the Union Inn was kept by Frederick Ward who was a retired stonemason and had worked on the restoration of St. Werburgh's church. The victualler then at the Malt Shovel was William Foss.

The Union stood well back of a cobblestone area on which Spondon's annual 3-day market and fair took place. This was established by an ancient statute, and for that reason was still called the "statits" by the locals. I still remember the raucous noise and excitement of the steam calliope, the cakewalk, and the fluttering hiss of the naphtha flares at night time on each of the booths.

The old Union inn was closed in 1930 and was being rented in 1935 by the Stubbs family, as a dwelling house. It was demolished sometime around 1937. At that time I ran errands for my Aunt Ginny who lived in the cottage next door. Ginny sometimes helped as a barmaid at the Malt Shovel, which was then tenanted by the Clewes family. The Porter and Holmes families were good customers.

In the late 1700's a public house named "The Beehive" was in Moor Street, near Brockley at the foot of Cripple Hill and Dale Road (but then known as White Leys Lane or Stanley Highway.) Almost opposite, at the corner of Stony Lane was the licensed house "The Fox and Hounds" that was used until the late 1800's. There were other retailers of beer in Spondon in 1835, among them were Thomas Bennett, John Biggins, Francis Goodwin, William Martin and Joseph Storer. At the junction of Chapel Street and Moor Street was the White Swan, known to exist as early as 1787. In 1835 it was kept by John Bennett who was also a miller. After his death, in 1850 Maria Bennett held the licence. In 1857 the White Swan proprietor was Thomas Coxon who had moved there from the Union. The White Swan in 1891 was operated by Peter Coxon, son of Thomas. My grandfather, George Porter the cricketer, had a penny-farthing bicycle and used the old horse-mounting stone alongside the front steps for his climb-up to the seat and the launch.

The Birmingham and Midland Counties railway came to Spondon in 1838 and the nearby Canal Tavern became "The Station Inn" soon after. It was situated alongside the nearby Derby and Sandiacre Canal. My great-great grandfather, William Porter, was a boatman and probably knew it very well. "The Anglers Arms" was a coaching inn, located on the turnpike halfway to Borrowash and also easily accessible to the boatmen of the canal. The Anglers Arms had William Dedman as victualler in 1891. This old inn was sold in 1898 and acquired by Hansons' Brewery.

At the beginning of Locko Road, on its western side, stood a row of 18th century cottages. The last of these was "The Brickmakers Arms" named to recognise its patrons, the workers from the nearby brickyard at the end of Windmill Lane. This pub was replaced in the 1890's by "The Vernon Arms" that was built alongside, with Thomas Holloway as the beer seller. It is more generally referred to as the 'Top House' by most locals. The inn called the "Prince of Wales" was situated in Chapel Street at the junction with Oxford Street as early as 1720. The owner in 1867 was William Goff who left it to his wife Hannah. It was purchased by Alton's brewery in 1895 and drastically modernised, with Thomas Hoskisson then listed as the beerseller. During the middle of this century it was operated by John Kent, known to most as 'Kenty'. In 1959 it was taken over by Ind Coope & Allsop.

Gradually all the independent, or "free" houses of Spondon were purchased by the large regional breweries dominated by Offilers of Derby, Ind Coope & Allsop of Burton-on-Trent, Marstons, and Trumans of Nottingham. Thus, our centuries of local beer-making came to an end.

Other private establishments in the early 20th century where beer was served were the Crown Club on Nottingham Road, the Conservative Club in Chapel Street and at the Liberal Club in Moor Street. My father and his brothers belonged to each of the clubs at various times, but this had more to do with their social and business activities than with politics. As the village chimney sweeps, George and Jack Porter had to distribute their patronage impartially among all the contenders for their custom.

The landlord of the Anglers Arms in 1916 was Samuel Lewsley. The disused brickyard next door was the home of Spondon Rovers football team and games were played there until the outbreak of the second World War. While the footballers were sliding on the grassy field, we children were sliding down the clay banks on sheets of cardboard. By 1938 the old Anglers Arms was also closed and the licence transferred to a larger modern public house of the same name built on the opposite side of Nottingham Road.

The number of public houses in Spondon had remained constant until 1930, when the Union Inn and the Station Inn were closed by the owners, Offilers Brewery, so that a licence could be granted to the new Moon Hotel on Station Road. The old inn was demolished sometime around 1937. The Malt Shovel was tenanted by the Clewes family in the 1930's, and with Maurice and Frank, I used to play with Roy Clewes, one of the sons, until eventually he and his family moved to Nottingham. In 1950 the landlord became Anthony Woodyet, and he held the tenancy for 35 years until his retirement in 1985. Ken Littleproud then took over as the new landlord.

After the Second World War several large housing estates were built in Spondon and more licenses were then made available. By 1961 another new public house, "The Yarnspinner" had been opened on Borrowash Road, followed by "The Kingfisher" at Lime Grove on the border with Chaddesden. This reflected the situation in the summer of 1991

---The Village of Spondon in Derbyshire ---Saint Werburgh's Church ---Wars and Tumults ---The Derwent and the Canals ---The Farmers ---Victorian Spondon ---The Willowcroft ---The Schools ---The Inns and Public Houses ---Spondon Voices ---A Spondon Family ---A Child's Christmas in Spondon, 1935 ---Epilogue ---Images of Spondon ---