Flitch of Bacon

Name: The Flitch of Bacon

Address: Rykneld Street, Catholme/Wichnor

Original Flitch of Bacon

The original Flitch of Bacon dates back to around 1774 and was a grand old coaching inn located on Rykneld Street, the Burton to Lichfield turnpike road next to Wichnor locks. It therefore served customers from both road and canal trade.  It got its name from the local tradition of awarding a flitch of bacon to couples after their first "successful" year of marriage.  More details of the ancient tradition can be read below.  

The buildings incorporated the Wichnor Forge (Smithy) and the Inn itself, which was run by the Stretton family who were local farmers. The actual name of the farm was "Bridges Farm" (source: 1881 Census record for Arthur Stretton) and strangely, the early census records make no mention of the name of the inn or of John Stretton's side-line as a beerhouse keeper but the Poll & Electoral registers confirm this was the case. The existence of a smithy alongside a busy coaching inn was not uncommon at the time given the passing horse trade.

The following excerpt from the 1834 History, Gazeteer and Directory of Staffordshire makes interesting reading and confirms how rare the awarding of the Flitch of Bacon really was...

Wichnob, or Whichnoure, is a scattered village, township and chapelry, forming the south end of the parish, miles S.W. by S. or Burton-upon-Trent, and the same distance N.E. of Lichfield. The whole belongs to the lord of the manor, Theophilus Lfcvett, Esq., of Wichnor Lodge, a handsome mansion, seated in a beautiful park of 300 acres, on the north bank of the Trent, which river, about a mile to the east, is crossed by the canal and the Burton turnpike, and a little below receives the waters of the Tame. In 1338, this manor was held by Sir Philip de Somerville, under the famous John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, who, during his residence at Tutbury castle, established several curious customs, for the purpose of gaining the affections of the people, and none of them is more singular than the tenure of this manor, which requires the Lord to keep a Flitch Of Bacon*hanging in his hall at Wichnor, at all times of the year, except in Lent, that it may be delivered to any man or woman who shall come and claim it, and at the same time swear that he or she has been married a year and a day without repenting; and that if they were then single, and wished to be married again, the demandant would take the same party again before any other in the world. Two neighbours were required to testify the truth of this deposition; and if the claimant was a freeman, he received, besides the bacon, half a quarter of wheat and a cheese; and if a villain, half a quarter of rye. These things, with the bacon, were carried before him, with trumpets, tabernets, minstrels, and a procession of the tenantry, through the lordship of Wichnor, and then, without music, to his abode. Since this custom was established, but very few have dared to claim the prize, and three couples only have obtained it; one of which, having quarrelled about the mode of cooking the bacon, was adjudged to return it; and the other happy couple were a sea officer and his wife, who had never seen each other from the day of their marriage, till they met at the hall; and "a simple pair in the neighbourhood; the husband, a good natured sensible man, and the wife luckily dumb." No claimant for the flitch having appeared during several centuries, a wooden one was long since substituted in its stead, and still hangs in the hall—a friendly monitor to the young and free, to be cautious of trusting themselves in the hymeneal noose. The hall is supposed to stand on the site of the ancient manor-house, which Leland mentions as totally in ruins in his time. The then family residence being situated close to the bank of the Trent, and much liable to the overflowings of that river, which here runs in two circuitous streams, crossed by a range of noble aquaducts forming part of the canal, and by a stone bridge of many arches and culverts on the Lichfield and Burton road, which latter is the Rykneld Street of the Romans. Near the bridge is an iron forge, established about 70 years ago, and the large " Flitch of Bacon" Inn where the county magistrates hold petty sessions.

Press cuttings that make mention of the Flitch confirm that it was regularly used as a district bankruptcy court.  

Chancery commissioners dealt with bankruptcy before 1832 but from 1842 district bankruptcy courts were established for cases outside London. 

In 1832 the court of bankruptcy was established and creditors could petition the Lord Chancellor for a commission of bankruptcy or a fiat. Commissioners decided if a debtor was eligible to be declared bankrupt and would oversee the distribution of assets.

Official assignees were appointed and were responsible for depositing the proceeds from the sale of a bankrupt’s estates into the Bank of England. When sufficient creditors were satisfied and had signed a request for a Certificate of Conformity (a statement that the bankrupt had satisfied all the legal requirements), the Commissioners could issue the certificate which effectively discharged him, although dividends might continue to be paid.

After 1849 creditors petitioned for an ‘Adjudication in Bankruptcy.’ The Commissioners took statements from the bankrupt and his creditors. The creditors would then elect trustees to value his assets and distribute them as dividends.

From 1849 to 1861, there were 3 classes of certificate of conformity which distinguished between: -

blameless bankrupts

bankrupts partially at fault

bankrupts fully at fault

After 1861, orders of discharge were issued instead. 

National Archives website

Hereford Journal 01 July 1812

The manor of Whichnoure (now Wychnor Hall) near Lichfield, Staffordshire was granted to Sir Philip de Somerville in the 10th year of the reign of Edward III (1336) from the Earl of Lancaster for a small fee but also on condition that he kept ready "arrayed at all times of the year but Lent, one bacon-flyke hanging in his hall at Whichnoure, to be given to every man or woman who demanded it a year and a day after the marriage, upon their swearing they would not have changed for none other".The couple are required to produce two of their neighbours to witness that the oath is true.The oath that was to be sworn by the couple reads,

"Hear ye, Sir Philip de Somervile, lord of Whichenoure, maintainer and giver of this Bacon, that I, (husband), syth I wedded (wife), my wyfe, and syth I had her in my kepyng and at wylle, by a Yere and a Day after our Marryage, I would not have changed for none other, farer ne fowler, richer ne powrer, ne for none other descended of gretter lynage, sleeping ne waking, at noo time; and if the said (wife) were sole, and I sole, I would take her to be my wyfe before all the wymen of the worlde, of what condytions soevere they be, good or evyle, as helpe me God, and his Seyntys, and this flesh, and all fleshes."

The winning couple are escorted away in a grand ceremony with "trompets, tabourets, and other manoir of mynstralcie". Although this is a valuable prize, it does not seem to have been claimed very often. Horace Walpole, who visited Whichnoure in 1760, reported that the flitch had not been claimed for thirty years and that a real flitch of bacon was no longer kept ready at the manor. A replacement, carved in wood, was now displayed over the mantle of the fireplace in the main hall, presumably in order to continue to meet the conditions of the original land grant.

Walpole is quite taken by this tradition and mentions it in several letters to his friends. In a letter to the Countess of Ailesbury (Lady Caroline Campbell, daughter of John Campbell, 4th Duke of Argyll and widow of Charles Bruce, 4th Earl of Elgin and 3rd Earl of Ailesbury but by this stage married to Hon. H. S. Conway), Walpole with tongue firmly in cheek berates her for not having come to Whichnoure to claim the flitch: "Are you not ashamed, Madam, never to have put in your claim? It is above a year and a day that you have been married, and I never once heard either of you mention a journey to Whichnoure." Describing the location and explaining why the flitch no longer gets claimed, he writes "... it is a little paradise, and the more like an antique one, as, by all I have said, the married couples seem to be driven out of it." Walpole concludes, "If you love a prospect, or bacon, you will certainly come hither."

An anonymous humorous piece appeared in Joseph Addison's Spectator in 1714 purporting to explain the rarity of the flitch being awarded in terms of the poor quality of the applicants. The writer claims that the source is the Register of Whichenovre-hall but the truth is that the piece is almost certainly entirely fictitious. The first couple to claim, according to this account, were at first successful, but then had the flitch taken away from them after they began to argue about how it should be dressed. Another couple failed when the husband, who had only reluctantly attended, had his ears boxed by his wife during the questioning. A couple who applied after only their honeymoon had finished passed the questioning but since insufficient time had elapsed were awarded just one rasher. One of only two couples to be successful in the first century of the tradition was a ship's captain and his wife who had not actually seen one another for over a year since their marriage.

As well as to married couples, a flitch of bacon was also given at Whichnoure to men in the religious profession one year and a day following their retirement.

Courtesy of Wikipedia Flitch of Bacon Custom

Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser 19 June 1820

The map above from 1881 shows the site of original Flitch of Bacon, marked as "Smy." which stands for Smithy (or Blacksmith's) and confirms its location at the meeting point of the Trent and Mersey Canal and Ryneld Street, as well as close proximity to the River Trent.

Parson and Bradshaw 1818 Directory

London Gazette 1824

Listed landlords of the Flitch of Bacon were William Stretton (1818-38), John Stretton (1838-68), Edwin (Edward) Ironmonger (1868-77), John Pritchard (1880-1913), Clara Pritchard (1913-16) and Francis George Bird (1940).

Globe 05 September 1821

1835 Poll and Electoral Register

1841 Census

1841 Poll & Electoral Register

Leicestershire Mercury 09 September 1843

1851 Census 

1851 Poll Book & Electoral Register

1861 Census

1861 Poll Book & Electoral Register

Northampton Mercury 28 January 1832

1865 Poll Book & Electoral Register

1868 Probate for John Stretton

The death of John Stretton in 1868 appears to have marked the end of the Flitch of Bacon at Bridges Farm (Wychnor) and led to its move, a short distance north along Rykneld Street to Catholme Bridge.  Registers confirm there was an Inn in Wichnor in 1865 but there is no mention of one thereafter.

The 1861 census record below shows the next landlord, Edwin (or Edward) Ironmonger living at Catholme Bridge working as a farm labourer; ten years later he was the landlord at the new Flitch of Bacon.

1861 Census Edwin Ironmonger

Flitch of Bacon No.2 at Catholme Bridge
(No.3 can be seen in the background to the right)

The map below confirms the new location of the Inn directly across Ryneld Street from Catholme Bridge, which was at the end of Efflinch Lane.  Its neighbour, the Junction Inn can also be seen on Efflinch lane.

Map of Catholme Bridge in 1920

1871 Census

As the photo above confirms, the Inn served beers produced by one of breweries in Burton-upon-Trent, James Eadie Ltd (Cross Street, Burton-upon-Trent).

Born in Perthshire in 1827, the young James Eadie travelled south in 1842 to work for his uncle John Eadie, a tea dealer trading in Fazeley. Once settled, James Eadie started a business supplying malt to homebrew houses and common brewers in and around Fazeley.
James Eadie's enterprise proved very successful and the firm's sales area extended to Burton-on-Trent. Making frequent visits to the brewing capital of the Midlands, James Eadie decided to implement a forward extension strategy for his business and established a brewery in Cross Street in 1852.
Despite fierce competition, the brewery flourished and the company's growth was rapid. However, the company foundered shortly after it was registered in 1893 and went into liquidation in the summer of 1896. The brewery survived following restructuring.
James Eadie was a benefactor of Fazeley and Burton and was responsible for the construction of chapels in both towns. When he died in June 1904 his personal estate totalled £337,966 [that's over £24m in today's money]. He lived in some comfort in Barrow Hall at Barrow-upon-Trent and also acquired an estate in Scotland. He was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Banffshire in May 1900.
The company and its tied estate of 308 public houses was acquired by Bass, Ratcliff and Gretton Ltd. in 1933.

1894 Photo of James Eadie and his Employees from 1894

Derby Mercury 12 September 1877

1881 Census

Morning Advertiser 06 August 1834

1891 Census

When the Flitch moved to its third and final home is not known to me but is likely to have been in the first few decades of the 20th century.  Only the original building still stands today at Wychnor.

1901 Census

Warwick and Warwickshire Advertiser 06 January 1906

1911 Census

Flitch of Bacon No.3 at Catholme Bridge