Barton-under-Needwood's Inns & Taverns
by Richard Langford
A potted history of the Inns and Taverns of Barton-under-Needwood documenting the
memory of those who worked there, the buildings, history and the
central part they played in the lives of the community and people who
lived and passed through one of Staffordshire's most beautiful villages
over the last few hundred years.
"There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so
much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn."
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)
This blog is dedicated to my mother, Margaret and late father Stanley Langford.
I was inspired to research the history of pubs in Barton-under-Needwood whilst tracing my family tree several years ago. I was born in Burton-on-Trent, Britain's brewing capital and was brought up in the village on Efflinch Lane where my mother still lives today. Most of the paternal side of my family hail from the Black Country in the West Midlands and when I learnt that a great uncle was previously the licensee of the Coach and Horses Public House in Tipton I began to scour the web and swiftly came across the most fantastic website called Hitchmough's Black Country Pubs. This is dedicated to plotting the history of over 5500 pubs in that area and is an amazing resource for historians and genealogists alike
www.longpull.co.uk
This blog is not meant to copy what Tony Hitchmough has created over 40 years of research but is inspired by his work and hopefully will prove useful to anyone interested in Barton's heritage, of which, the humble tavern will always remain an important part...warts an' all!
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| 1940 Ballad of Barton |
The Ballad of Barton makes reference to four pubs of which only the Royal Oak on Barton Green remains in name alone although the Vine Inn still opens its door to business under its more recent title,
the Barton Turns Inn.
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William White's History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Staffordshire in 1834 was a general survey of the County of Stafford and the Diocese of Lichfield & Coventry; with Separate Historical, Statistical, & Topographical Descriptions of all the Boroughs, Towns including Tatenhill of which Barton-under-Needwood was a part at that time...
TATENHILL is an ancient village, seated in a deep, romantic glen, between two high hills, which gradually descend from the eastern border of Needwood Forest, 3 miles W.S.W. of Burton-upon-Trent. Its extensive Parish contains 2180 inhabitants, and about 9435 acres of land; as will be seen with the following enumeration of its four townships :—
Townships Acres Pop
Tatenhiill 2235 475
Dunstall 1700 204
Barton 3900 1344
Wichnor 1600 157
Of the first three townships, upwards of 2300 acres are new enclosure, forming the Barton part of Needwood Forest and a large portion of it belonging to the King, who has reserved Banister Hollies, Rangemoor Dingles, and some other small pieces of hilly land, for the growth of timber.
Tatenhill township comprises the greater part of Callingwood, 1} miles N.W.; and most of Highlands Park, Range Moor, and Slierholt Lodge, on the forest, from 2 to 3 miles W. and N.W. of the village. Sir Wilmot Horton is lord of Tatenhill manor, and Sir Oswald Mosley, of Callingwood, which latter is a large district partly in Rolleston parish; but here are a number of other freeholders, and several lessees of the Crown. The Church is a large ancient fabric, dedicated to St. Michael. It is a rectory, valued in the King's books at £26. Is. 8d. and at the enclosure of Needwood received an allotment of 215a. 38p. The Dean of Lichfield is the patron and appropriator, and the Rev. H. G. Cooper is the incumbent curate. The church tower is remarkable as the object of an echo, which returns, to the opposite acclivity, no less than five syllables, distinctly. The National School was erected by subscription, about 20 years ago, and has now about 50 free scholars belonging to this township and Dunstall.
Barton-under-nekdwood is a large and well-built village, nearly 5 m.S.W. by S.of Burton-on-Trent, comprising within its extensive township and chapelry a large portion of the enclosed forest, many scattered farmsteads, several handsome villas, and a fine tract of pasture land, extending along the western bank of the Trent. In Domesday book, it is called Bertune, and described as the property of the crown. Edward the Confessor granted it to Henry dc Ferrers; from whom it passed to the Somervilles, and afterwards to the Earls of Derby, one of whom forfeited it by rebellion in 1263, when Henry III. gave it to his youngest son, Edmund, Earl of Lancaster. It subsequently reverted to the crown as a part of the Duchy of Lancaster, but was sold by Charles I. in 1629, to the citizens of London, of whom it was purchased by Sir Edward Bromfield. The present lord of the manor is Sir Wilmot Horton; hat Sir E. Antrobus, George Birch, Esq., Theophilus Levett, Esq. and several others have large estates here. Barton Hall, a neat modern mansion, is the seat of Kd. Butler Fowler, Esq. Yewtree House, the ancient seat of the Sanders family, has just been rebuilt in the Gothic style, and is now occupied by J. Webb, Esq. Newbold Manor, one mile E. of Barton, is the seat and estate of C. P. Johnstone, Esq.; and near it are several saline springs, which, Plott says, have such an effect upon the pastures, as to change the colour of the cattle that graze on them, from a black, red, or brown, to a whitish dun. About a mile E. of the village, is the hamlet of Barton Turning, on the Trent and Mersey canal; and a little further to the east, a handsome Bridge, of stone and iron, has just been raised across the river Trent, at the cost of £7000, raised in £10 shares. The ferry, which here crossed the river to Walton, in Derbyshire, was often difficult and dangerous. Barton Cattle Fairs are held on May 3rd and Nov. 28th; and the wake on the first Sunday in August. The Church, or chapel of ease, is a neat stone edifice, dedicated to St. James, and founded by Br. John Taylor, a native of this village, and the eldest son of three at a birth, who were shewn, when children, to Henry VII., who immediately placed them under his royal patronage, so that it is said " they all came to be doctors, and to good preferment." The windows of the chancel, which have lately been repaired, display rich and elegantly finished paintings of the crucifixion and the twelve apostles, with the Virgin Mary, John the beloved Disciple, John the Baptist, Moses, and Elias. The curacy has been augmented with Queen Anne's Bounty, and is now worth about £\30 per annum. The Dean of Lichfield is the patron, and the Rev. James Gisborne, M.A., the incumbent. A little south of Barton is Blakenhill, now a farm-house, but anciently the seat of the Mynors family.
The Free Grammar School of Barton-under-Needwood was founded in 1593 by Thomas Russell, who, by will, left money for its erection, and endowed it with an annuity of £21. 10s. per annum, to be paid out of property in the parish of St. Leonard's, Shoreditch, London, held in trust by the Draper's Company, who have advanced the annuity to £30 besides which, the master has the free use of a house, and about three acres of land, which, together with the annual subscriptions of the inhabitants, swells his yearly salary to upwards of £80; for which he teaches G5 boys, on the Madras system, the teaching of the classics being discontinued many years ago, as of no benefit to the township. A Gothic School House, where 40 poor girls are educated, by subscription, was built here in 1831 ; and an Infant School has lately been established in another part of the village.
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the Barton Turns Inn.
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William White's History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Staffordshire in 1834 was a general survey of the County of Stafford and the Diocese of Lichfield & Coventry; with Separate Historical, Statistical, & Topographical Descriptions of all the Boroughs, Towns including Tatenhill of which Barton-under-Needwood was a part at that time...
TATENHILL is an ancient village, seated in a deep, romantic glen, between two high hills, which gradually descend from the eastern border of Needwood Forest, 3 miles W.S.W. of Burton-upon-Trent. Its extensive Parish contains 2180 inhabitants, and about 9435 acres of land; as will be seen with the following enumeration of its four townships :—
Townships Acres Pop
Tatenhiill 2235 475
Dunstall 1700 204
Barton 3900 1344
Wichnor 1600 157
Of the first three townships, upwards of 2300 acres are new enclosure, forming the Barton part of Needwood Forest and a large portion of it belonging to the King, who has reserved Banister Hollies, Rangemoor Dingles, and some other small pieces of hilly land, for the growth of timber.
Tatenhill township comprises the greater part of Callingwood, 1} miles N.W.; and most of Highlands Park, Range Moor, and Slierholt Lodge, on the forest, from 2 to 3 miles W. and N.W. of the village. Sir Wilmot Horton is lord of Tatenhill manor, and Sir Oswald Mosley, of Callingwood, which latter is a large district partly in Rolleston parish; but here are a number of other freeholders, and several lessees of the Crown. The Church is a large ancient fabric, dedicated to St. Michael. It is a rectory, valued in the King's books at £26. Is. 8d. and at the enclosure of Needwood received an allotment of 215a. 38p. The Dean of Lichfield is the patron and appropriator, and the Rev. H. G. Cooper is the incumbent curate. The church tower is remarkable as the object of an echo, which returns, to the opposite acclivity, no less than five syllables, distinctly. The National School was erected by subscription, about 20 years ago, and has now about 50 free scholars belonging to this township and Dunstall.
Barton-under-nekdwood is a large and well-built village, nearly 5 m.S.W. by S.of Burton-on-Trent, comprising within its extensive township and chapelry a large portion of the enclosed forest, many scattered farmsteads, several handsome villas, and a fine tract of pasture land, extending along the western bank of the Trent. In Domesday book, it is called Bertune, and described as the property of the crown. Edward the Confessor granted it to Henry dc Ferrers; from whom it passed to the Somervilles, and afterwards to the Earls of Derby, one of whom forfeited it by rebellion in 1263, when Henry III. gave it to his youngest son, Edmund, Earl of Lancaster. It subsequently reverted to the crown as a part of the Duchy of Lancaster, but was sold by Charles I. in 1629, to the citizens of London, of whom it was purchased by Sir Edward Bromfield. The present lord of the manor is Sir Wilmot Horton; hat Sir E. Antrobus, George Birch, Esq., Theophilus Levett, Esq. and several others have large estates here. Barton Hall, a neat modern mansion, is the seat of Kd. Butler Fowler, Esq. Yewtree House, the ancient seat of the Sanders family, has just been rebuilt in the Gothic style, and is now occupied by J. Webb, Esq. Newbold Manor, one mile E. of Barton, is the seat and estate of C. P. Johnstone, Esq.; and near it are several saline springs, which, Plott says, have such an effect upon the pastures, as to change the colour of the cattle that graze on them, from a black, red, or brown, to a whitish dun. About a mile E. of the village, is the hamlet of Barton Turning, on the Trent and Mersey canal; and a little further to the east, a handsome Bridge, of stone and iron, has just been raised across the river Trent, at the cost of £7000, raised in £10 shares. The ferry, which here crossed the river to Walton, in Derbyshire, was often difficult and dangerous. Barton Cattle Fairs are held on May 3rd and Nov. 28th; and the wake on the first Sunday in August. The Church, or chapel of ease, is a neat stone edifice, dedicated to St. James, and founded by Br. John Taylor, a native of this village, and the eldest son of three at a birth, who were shewn, when children, to Henry VII., who immediately placed them under his royal patronage, so that it is said " they all came to be doctors, and to good preferment." The windows of the chancel, which have lately been repaired, display rich and elegantly finished paintings of the crucifixion and the twelve apostles, with the Virgin Mary, John the beloved Disciple, John the Baptist, Moses, and Elias. The curacy has been augmented with Queen Anne's Bounty, and is now worth about £\30 per annum. The Dean of Lichfield is the patron, and the Rev. James Gisborne, M.A., the incumbent. A little south of Barton is Blakenhill, now a farm-house, but anciently the seat of the Mynors family.
The Free Grammar School of Barton-under-Needwood was founded in 1593 by Thomas Russell, who, by will, left money for its erection, and endowed it with an annuity of £21. 10s. per annum, to be paid out of property in the parish of St. Leonard's, Shoreditch, London, held in trust by the Draper's Company, who have advanced the annuity to £30 besides which, the master has the free use of a house, and about three acres of land, which, together with the annual subscriptions of the inhabitants, swells his yearly salary to upwards of £80; for which he teaches G5 boys, on the Madras system, the teaching of the classics being discontinued many years ago, as of no benefit to the township. A Gothic School House, where 40 poor girls are educated, by subscription, was built here in 1831 ; and an Infant School has lately been established in another part of the village.
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Information has been sourced from records including the Staffordshire General & Commercial Directory (1818), Kelly's Directories of Staffordshire (1872 to 1940), Slater's Royal National Commercial (1862), Post Office Directory of Staffordshire (1860), White's History Gazeteer and Directory of Staffordshire (1834 & 1851), Bennett's Business Directory (1912), Pigot's Directory of Staffordshire (1835 & 1842), UK Census records from Find my Past & Ancestry, BMD records and Google.
Special thanks goes to Steve Gardner who's kindly allowed me to use his collection of old photographs and historical information contained within the excellent "Barton-under-Needwood History" Facebook site.
Special thanks goes to Steve Gardner who's kindly allowed me to use his collection of old photographs and historical information contained within the excellent "Barton-under-Needwood History" Facebook site.
Most of all, my greatest thanks goes to Linda, who has put up with me whilst doing this little project!
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