High Wycombe's lost pubs and the history behind them

Pub names can often tell us much about a place - its industry, families, geography and history, as well as give us clues about the pub’s age and who ran it. Lane End is a typical example, as I will describe in this article.

Until the early 1950s, If we had approached Lane End from Wycombe the first pub we would have found was on Park Lane, near where Pusey Way is now. The Prince Albert was a beerhouse (meaning wine and spirits could not be sold) dating from 1861, two years after Queen Victoria’s husband had died.

Carrying on towards the centre of the village we reach The Row and the Chairmakers’ Arms, licensed from 1870. The Row is a collection of smart Grade II listed cottages dating from about the time the pub opened. The pub’s name tells us that this was an industrial village by the mid-nineteenth century. Unusually for this period, the building appears to be a purpose-built public house whereas all other Lane End pubs had other uses before becoming licensed premises. Some even had dual uses throughout their lives. After closing in 1998 the pub was converted into the private house, Chairmakers Cottage.

The Chairmakers’ was leased by Samuel Sears (The Row’s probable builder) to Wheeler’s Wycombe Brewery. Samuel was quite a businessman. The local press said of him after his death in 1887 that he “carried on an extensive business as chair manufacturer, builder, farmer, etc. In fact, it can safely be said that the late Samuel Sears was the making of Lane End as he employed several hundred hands.” We will come across him again.

At the pond in the centre of the village, we turn left towards Marlow to the Clayton Arms, now the Grouse & Ale, the only surviving pub in the village. The building is Grade II listed and was built in the seventeenth century as a manor house for the Clayton family. In 1859 it was leased by them to Wheeler’s having been a fully licensed house since at least 1820. However, as the main road between Marlow and Stokenchurch became a turnpike in 1791 it’s quite likely the manor house became a pub, meeting travellers’ needs by the end of the eighteenth century.

The excellent Marlow Ancestors blog tells us that Sir William Clayton was still using the pub in the 1860s and ‘70s to exercise his manorial rights by holding court leets - an archaic feudal court.

Crossing the road and heading a little further towards Marlow takes us to the charming, rambling, early seventeenth century, Grade II-listed Bottom House. It’s not entirely clear when this became a pub, but it seems probable that it was a beerhouse and grocer’s shop from 1868. It was the last house in the Victorian village. Owned by Wethered’s of Marlow, it was threatened with closure by the magistrates in 1909 on the basis that Lane End had too many pubs and was too congested. Wethered’s gave up the licence voluntarily in 1915.

We now turn back towards Stokenchurch and the Osborne Arms, a beerhouse dating from 1830. It was also called the Earl Grey and was certainly known by that name in 1871 when the landlord was Abraham Gray. It was not uncommon for pubs to carry alternative names at the same time, such as the White Blackbird in Loudwater that was also known as the Oxford Arms.

The Grays lived at the pub with the Oxlades, of whom Richard was the first licensee. The second Earl Grey (of tea fame) was a British Prime Minister who saw through the Great Reform Act of 1832, so the Oxlades and Grays may have been making a political point. While the Osborne family connection is unclear the pub carried a sign containing the Osborne family coat of arms until it became a restaurant in 2017.

Further up the High Street was the New Inn. Active in the 1860s it was run by Henry Hawes until it became the Old Arm Chair in the 1870s. The licensee who probably changed the name was lacemaker Eliza Cutler. Like Abraham Gray and Richard Oxlade a few doors away she may have been playing on names. Lane End was a chairmaking village and Eliza Cook’s sentimental lyrics made The Old Arm Chair a very popular song in mid-Victorian Britain.

In 1909, the magistrates refused to renew the Old Arm Chair’s licence. They heard that it did little trade, having just a taproom attached to a general shop in poor condition. The owning brewery, Weller’s of Amersham, did not argue the case but the tenant, Mr Earis, certainly did: he had built up the trade, he said, and wanted double the compensation of £35 on offer for the loss of his licence. He did not persuade the magistrates. The following year the de-licensed property was sold at auction for £235 with Mr Earis still a tenant. The property was where 5 High Street is today.

On the site of the present-day Harris Garden stood a group of cottages, two of which had been converted into another New Inn by 1860. This was a beerhouse run by Edmund Hawes (father of Henry at the other New Inn) who was convicted, in 1860, of being the ‘genius’ behind a riotous mob that included his son. The following year the pub was auctioned. Samuel Sears may have bought it because in 1864 he leased it to Thomas Parsons’ Lion Brewery of Princes Risborough. Edmund had left to become the landlord of the Bull in High Wycombe. It’s surprising that he was able to get a licence after his conviction as the magistrates were almost certain to refuse an application if the police objected.

Pictures of the group of cottages containing the New Inn show what a pinch point on the turnpike road it was. This was where the Wycombe licensing magistrates were particularly concerned about congestion in 1909, though they renewed the New Inn’s licence. However, in 1921 the leasing brewer (Wheeler’s by this time) offered to give up the licence without seeking compensation and the pub closed.

Why were there two New Inns within yards of each other? It was quite common for Victorian beerhouses not to carry a sign or have a formal name. It was also common for places to have two pubs with the same name. Competition normally led to pubs having opposing names. Were Henry and Edmund joking with the locals?

On Church Road towards Frieth was the Old Sun, probably the oldest pub in Lane End, owned by Wethered’s since at least 1801. This was also known as the Sun and Rising Sun during its life. The origin of the name is in Edward II adopting the rays of the rising sun into his royal crest. The nobility followed suit and pubs on their land adopted the name. The pub closed in 2010 to be converted to housing.

Off Church Road in Ditchfield was the Jolly Blacksmith beerhouse, opened in 1862 and run by the Meakes family throughout its life. It was owned by Thomas Williams’ Royal Stag Brewery of Wooburn until they sold out to Wethered’s in 1927. It was common for beerhouse keepers to have a by-occupation that might be indicated in the beerhouse’s name, and the addition of Jolly before the trade name, or Arms after the trade name, became something of a stylistic tic in nineteenth century pub names.

Although the Jolly Blacksmith closed in 1997, the Meakes business is very much alive while the pub is a private house once again.

If we take the track leading to Moor Farm, and follow that beyond Diamond Cottages, we would have found the Black Boy. This beerhouse dated from 1830 and may also have been a farm or smallholding.

At the 1909 licence renewal sessions, the magistrates identified the Black Boy as one of three Lane End beer houses to be closed. The owning brewery, Wheeler’s, did not object. In 1910, the house was sold at auction. The particulars describe it as “old-fashioned and very picturesque”, which means in need of improvement in today’s language. The Black Boy is probably the house now known as Kings Corner.

Back on Church Road, at Moorend Common, was the Brickmakers’ Arms beerhouse, also known as the Kiln, or Old Kiln. Dating from 1834 it was owned by Samuel Sears who also owned the brickworks, a pot kiln and land in the area. In 1880 Sears liquidated his businesses, land and other properties (including 14 dwellings) by putting them up for auction. The pub was sold to Wheeler’s Brewery.

In 1952, licensee Fred Smith applied for and got a full publican’s licence to sell wine and spirits as well as beer. Then, in 1954, Simonds of Reading (who acquired Wheeler’s in 1930) applied to the magistrates for a publican’s licence for the Osborne Arms. The magistrates agreed, so long as Fred Smith’s licence was surrendered. The Brickmakers’ Arms closed, becoming a private house, The Old Kiln.

If any reader has any memories or photographs of any of these old pubs/beerhouses which they would like to share please contact Mike Dewey at deweymiked@aol.com.