Shoulder of Mutton

Name: The Shoulder of Mutton

Address: 16, Main Street, Barton-under-Needwood

The Shoulder of Mutton is one of Barton's oldest pubs probably dating back to the late 1700's and is located on the Main Street through the centre of the village at the junction with Dunstall Road that led to Barton Hall.

The front of the Shoulder c.1890 when William Henry Edwards was the landlord

Listed landlords at the Shoulder were Charles Nicholls (1818), Samuel Coulson (1832-1865), Mary Cheesman (1861-62), Thomas Holmes (1868-76) Inn & Posting house, Charles Mason (1880), Edwin Geary (1884), Sarah Geary (1888) Publican & Cab Proprietor, William Henry Edwards (1891-92) Publican & Builder, James Coxon (1896-1901), Elizabeth Coxon (1901-), Henry Harris (1904), John Arthur Trivett (1908), Stanley George Brunning (1912-32), Thomas Bradley (1936), Joseph Edward Barham (1940), Jimmy Bannister (1960's), Doris & Alf Rushton (1970's) and Robert Spurrier (2009).

Some of the split occupations listed above for the landlords confirm that running an Inn in the 1800's was a hard trade and didn't realise enough money to make ends meet. It's interesting to see it was used as the posting house in the village in the mid-1800's and also ran a cab business (horse drawn coaches) so would undoubtedly have had a smithy attached or nearby to service the horses coming and going.

1832 UK Poll Books

Samuel Coulson was the landlord and occupier of the Shoulder of Mutton on Main Street from the early 1830's until his death in 1865.  I suspect he was originally a farmer, producing malt for the brewing industry and the 1841 census below records his occupation as a "Maltster" rather than a publican, an occupation which involved preparing the malt from grain, usually to a brewer's specifications in the production of beer.

1841 Census

As the record below confirms, the Shoulder of Mutton was originally three separate copy hold houses (owned by the Lord of the Manor) that were later converted into one property, the Shoulder that we know today but I don't know when this occurred at present.

1842 UK Poll Books

Staffordshire Advertiser 05 January 1850

By the time of the 1851 census Samuel is recorded as a "Maltser & Innkeeper" at the Shoulder of Mutton and by the following census in 1861 he is no longer running the inn and has reverted to a "Maltster and Farmer", his occupation at the time of death in 1865.

1851 Census

Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal 06 March 1857

1861 Census Mary Cheesman

Whilst Samuel Coulson was still listed on the Poll Books at the Shoulder until 1865 the 1861 census records the landlady as a Mary Cheesman.  It's not clear how long she ran the pub for but she was no longer there in 1871 having moved up Main Street to Wood End where she was living with her brother William Gray next door to the Blacksmith's.  She later moved to Burton-on-Trent and by the mid-1870's she was running a beer house on Milton Street (near the Cooper's Tavern).

1865 UK Poll Book Excerpt

Samuel Coulson passed away in late 1865 after being included in the above record earlier that year and his probate record below confirms that, at the time of his death his occupation was recorded as a "Maltster, Brickmaker and Farmer" , no longer a publican.

Samuel Coulson Probate 1865

1861 Census Samuel Coulson @ Moor End

1871 Census

1881 Census

Future landlord James Coxon was born and bred in the village and earlier census records show him living at Wales End. His father was a John Coxon who was a "Wheelwright" and they lived on a farm at Wales End near the Hit or Miss beer house.  In 1871 he is recorded living with his mother Elizabeth and then in 1881 he had married and was on Mill Lane employed as a "Brewer's Clerk", good preparation for entering the beer house trade.  

I wonder when he started out running a beer house, as by 1891 he was back living at the top end of the newly named Short Lane, which was in the area previously known as Wales End working as a farmer.  This was the location of the Hit or Miss and there is no trace of it on the census records...could James have been there?

1891 Census

1900 Kelly's Directory

In 1901 James Coxon was the landlord at the Shoulder but he died in January 1901 leaving his wife Elizabeth in charge when the census enumerators came calling in the spring of that year.

1901 Census

1911 Census

Sporting links to the shoulder are...Jimmy Bannister played over 200 games for Shrewsbury Town between 1952 and 1958 and eventually ending up as Landlord of the Shoulder of Mutton in the 1960's.

The Shoulder of Mutton Golf Society started in 1992 which was run by the landlord. 

www.bartongolfsociety.com

It seems on fitting that the Shoulder hosted the Barton Golf Society, as the original golf course was located on the fields behind the Shoulder where John Taylor High school now stands and the Inn was probably also utilised as a regular 19th watering hole. The below map dates back to 1900.

October 1971 Mr and Mrs Alf Rushton at the Shoulder of Mutton,
with customers Mr Alan Austin and Mr Ian Ward

The above photo sourced from "Mail Remembers Memories of Barton in the 60s and 70s".

Attack on landlord cost pub-goer £2.5k
By Burton Mail  |  Posted: August 05, 2009
The Shoulder of Mutton, Barton-under Needwood
A PUB-GOER who punched a landlord in the eye, causing him to break his wrist as he fell to the ground, has been ordered to pay £2,500 compensation.
Licensee Robert Spurrier was punched to the ground outside his Shoulder of Mutton pub in Barton under Needwood.
The blow, from Luke Roberts, sent the landlord flying and he fractured his wrist trying to cushion his fall, Pat Sullivan, prosecuting, told Stafford Crown Court.
Regulars at the pub chased Roberts and his friend, but the defendant was spotted by Mr Spurrier in the accident department of Burton’s Queen’s Hospital. Roberts had gone there because he had hurt himself punching the landlord in the face.
Roberts, 27, of Chestnut Road, Stapenhill, who admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm, was sentenced to six months’ jail suspended for a year. Judge John Maxwell also ordered him to do 200 hours’ unpaid community work and to pay Mr Spurrier £2,500 compensation.
The judge said Roberts would be a burden on the state and unable to pay compensation if he went straight to jail.
“You sent Mr Spurrier flying and when he fell he fractured his wrist. He had a long time off work and will never fully recover.” Mr Sullivan told the court the violence happened on January 16 this year when Mr Spurrier had booked a band at the pub. Roberts and his friend were warned about their behaviour and subsequently asked to leave.
At closing time, Mr Spurrier was checking outside that people had left, when he was confronted by the defendant in an aggressive fashion.
Roberts lunged at him and the landlord held him by the throat against a car. When the car moved, Mr Spurrier lost his grip and Roberts punched him to the left eye, knocking him to the ground. Nicholas Smith, defending, said Roberts, who worked in a concrete factory, had never been in trouble of any kind before.
“This really is out of character. For one reason or another, drink got involved.”
Read more at www.burtonmail.co.uk

The Shoulder 2016