The Swan Inn: My Family and a Tied House
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Jane Hussey
Originally written December 2008 and published June 2009 in Family Tree Magazine. Revised and augmented June 2018 Photos Jane Hussey (unless stated) The Swan is the only truly tied inn in the country, standing on the edge of an almost sheer drop into the valley below where the A4 runs from Bath to London and with stunning views from the rear. It is bound on three sides by an iron band which continues under the road and into the former Kingsdown Quarry entrance opposite. These bands are clearly visible round the back of the building. |
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It wasn’t until the Swan Inn on Kingsdown above the village of Box was threatened with closure in April 1995 that I became involved in trying to save it. The brewery proposed the sale of the land for housing development but local people wanted it to remain. I certainly did for several reasons even though although it isn't now, nor was not at the time of my research, a listed building.
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For over a century two different branches of my family have been landlords of the inn (on and off) and it is my 3 x great grandfather George Bettteridge who is purported to be the figure painted in 1872 into the wall beside the open hearth. This was discovered in the 1960s when the cladding over the stone was removed. The image was immediately spotted by an American tourist who wanted to purchase it and take it home with him ! You can see the portait below in this article. The portrait itself has a crack in the stone from the heat of the fire but is at least now behind glass. The artist is reputed to be Peter Hopkins ARA. but on approaching the Royal Academy to verify this, it appears that he may only have been an exhibitor at the summer exhibitions and therefore not recorded as a member. The fact that he is named at all must have been by word of mouth possibly via my connections with Box, Kingsdown, as the inn remained in the family until the 1980s when my last great aunt died. Left: Ushers' Ale Guide, 1969, says the inn was tied to the rock in the 1860s. |
As the Swan lay on the main coaching route over Kingsdown Hill between Bath and Devizes, before the A4 was built to connect Bath and London, my theory lies that this artist was on his way to Bath to paint the upper classes taking the waters. But who knows? How was I to save my ancestor's picture in the event that the pub was pulled down? I couldn’t bear to think of it.
Origins of the Building
Historically there was a Swan Inn long before the existence of the present building, probably adjacent to it. The Swan Inn is mentioned in the Box Land Tax records as early as 1793 as the New Swan Inn with cottage orchard and garden (2 rods in land area) and its annual value was then £21. It was held under lifehold tenure and the first lease was granted on 18 October 1774 to William Ladd, and from him to wife Alice and then daughter Susanna Ladd.
The Old Swan Inn was beside it and had an orchard garden and wood (2 acres 1 rod in area) but was only worth £6 at this time. William Ladd also had tenure of the Old Swan. When the New Swan was built has not been discovered. In 1793 the lease describes the old inn as a messuage called by the name or sign of the Old Swan situate on Kingsdown Hill with 3 acers 5 poles of woody and uneven land adjoining lying between the old and new roads from Bath to London for the lives of his daughter Susannah Ladd aged 26 and grandsons. It was a freehold property but a note in the lease stated that it was being converted into 3 cottages or tenements. As early as 1763 the Lane to ye Swan was repaired with stones at a cost to the parish of 15s.0d.
Origins of the Building
Historically there was a Swan Inn long before the existence of the present building, probably adjacent to it. The Swan Inn is mentioned in the Box Land Tax records as early as 1793 as the New Swan Inn with cottage orchard and garden (2 rods in land area) and its annual value was then £21. It was held under lifehold tenure and the first lease was granted on 18 October 1774 to William Ladd, and from him to wife Alice and then daughter Susanna Ladd.
The Old Swan Inn was beside it and had an orchard garden and wood (2 acres 1 rod in area) but was only worth £6 at this time. William Ladd also had tenure of the Old Swan. When the New Swan was built has not been discovered. In 1793 the lease describes the old inn as a messuage called by the name or sign of the Old Swan situate on Kingsdown Hill with 3 acers 5 poles of woody and uneven land adjoining lying between the old and new roads from Bath to London for the lives of his daughter Susannah Ladd aged 26 and grandsons. It was a freehold property but a note in the lease stated that it was being converted into 3 cottages or tenements. As early as 1763 the Lane to ye Swan was repaired with stones at a cost to the parish of 15s.0d.
My Family Involvement
From 1808 until 1817 John Newman kept the Swan Inn, as tenant of William Ladd, and it has not yet been established which John this is within my Newman family. The tax payable at the time was 2s.0d per annum, a sum which equated to several other larger houses in the village. And the rates he paid to the parish for the property amounted to 5s. 6d pa in the early 1820s, rising to 15s.0d in 1824. (The rates would have varied each year depending on how much money the parish needed to support its poor at a time when local authorities were urged to take action against vagrants shortly after the Cato Street Conspiracy in London, when an attempt was made to blow up the entire British Cabinet and the Prime Minister).
George Newman followed on from John (after a year's break with Edward Gibbs as the landlord in 1818). He leased it from Susanna Ladd, daughter of the now deceased William. As the Wiltshire Poll books for Box in 1819 show, George kept the Swan from at least 1819 by annual renewable licence required since the Alehouse Act of 1522. These licences were called Alehouse Recognizances and it was often the case that when victuallers applied for their licences, they would stand surety or bondsman for one another. In other words, if the licence cost £10, then the bondsman or bondsmen (if there were two) had to stand surety for double that amount in case of default by the licencee during the year. And so it was that George was offered surety by Zachariah Washborne, victualler of the Bear Inn, Box in 1822. And in 1826 Elias Tuckey victualler of nearby Colerne stood surety for George Newman of the Swan and vice versa. So there was mutuality as well as competition within the trade. The fact that George had his licence renewed during the ensuing years meant that he did not fall foul of the strict laws governing the keeping of alehouses then. Although he did appear at Chippenham Quarter Sessions Court on 3 May 1819 where George Newman, liquid seller, Box was fined 9s.0d by magistrates, J Fuller and M Joy, for having a deficient ale measure. He had purported that one cup equalled one pint, when it did not. He paid up the fine.
The lease taken on from Squire William Northey of Box in 1813 was renewed by Susannah Ladd to Mr John Spencer in 1823. The lease stated: All that messuage tenement or dwelling house called or known by the name or sign of the Swan with the Garden Stable Orchard Outbuildings and Premises hereunto adjoining … being situate at Kingsdown now in the occupation of George Newman or his assigns together with all the singular ways paths passages waters watercourses yards gardens backsides cellars drains rooms easements… all manner of timber trees and other trees with the lops tops and shrouds of them (except the fruit of Apple Pear and Plumb [sic] Trees) now growing… at a yearly rent of £35. Spencer was charged to maintain at his own cost the walls posts pales rails doors windows window shutters easements partitions pavements sinks sewers watercourses pipes drains gutters vaults cellars privies doors locks keys bolts bars staples hinges glazed windows casements dressers shelves chimney pieces mantle pieces chimney jambs foot-pares hearths hearthstones and slabs and wainscots. Nothing was left to chance.
Conditions had become stricter by this time; gone were the bawdy days of the 1700s. The landlord would not have been allowed to dilute or adulterate the liquor he was selling, and would have had to use the correct measures. He should not permit any drunkenness or excessive drinking (tippling, as it was called), especially on Sundays during Divine Service hours, nor get drunk himself on his premises. He should not allow card gaming, draughts, dice, bagatelle, etc nor entertain bull, bear or badger baiting or cock fighting or any other sport, nor harbour men or women of notoriously bad fame nor allow dissolute girls and boys to meet on his premises. He was only permitted to be open late at night or early in the morning to receive weary travellers. (The detailed surviving recognizances of my Shropshire/Denbighshire innkeeper ancestors list all the above vices and iniquities).
George's opening hours would have been limited by the Box Vestry Meeting of 22 September 1820 in which It was agreed that the Publicans may draw beer from 8 o'clock to 9 in the morning, from 1 to 2 in the afternoon and from 7 to 8 in the evening and at no other time during the whole of Sunday except to Travellers passing through the Villages. As mentioned, the Swan Inn was a stopover on the old coaching road from Bath to London where the steep hill had to be negotiated by the coaches and horses. There were many accidents on the rutted mud roads so the pub would have taken in many a weary traveller. By 1823, however, this ruling had been superseded by one limiting the selling of beer in Public Houses on Sundays to one hour, namely 1 to 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Presumably to protect attendance in church.
We know that William Sweetland took over the running of the Swan Inn as licencee in 1827, as George Newman had by now become bankrupt. This was reported in in the Public Ledger and Advertiser on 9 March 1823. Notice of the bankruptcy was given at the Three Cups Inn, just outside the parish boundary, on the road between Middlehill and Bath.
We therefore assume that, although George did not move from his house on Kingsdown, he turned his labours to his trades of blacksmith and mason, one of the quarry entrances being right opposite the Swan Inn, providing the Bath stone for building as well as many more quarries in and around Box itself. As blacksmith, George would have not only repaired and daily maintained the masons' tools and agricultural implements, but he would have been able to shoe the horses as well, a job which must have kept him more than busy let alone keeping the inn. It must have been wonderful to tumble out of the Quarry entrance after a hard day’s work at the seam and be able to quench one’s thirst in the inn opposite.
In 1841 George Cannings was innkeeper living at the Swan with his wife and young daughter. On the night of the 1841 census there were 15 people within its walls, many of them labourers presumably having a well-earned drink and all of them Wiltshire folk. He was still the publican in 1851, now employing an ostler to look after the horses and with other lodgers present. George died in 1853 aged 44 years leaving his wife Sarah with five children. She re-married James Nowell of Box. The two of them continued running the Inn and by 1871 he was running it on his own. During this time an offence was committed at the Inn when stock belonging to Moses Bath, draper of Melksham, was discovered secreted at a public-house called the Swan Inn, Kingsdown Hill, Box, consisting of twelve packages of goods. Persons found to be holding such goods were to be prosecuted, implying that goods might have been distributed out of the Swan. Was the landlady aware of this, or was she an accomplice?
From 1808 until 1817 John Newman kept the Swan Inn, as tenant of William Ladd, and it has not yet been established which John this is within my Newman family. The tax payable at the time was 2s.0d per annum, a sum which equated to several other larger houses in the village. And the rates he paid to the parish for the property amounted to 5s. 6d pa in the early 1820s, rising to 15s.0d in 1824. (The rates would have varied each year depending on how much money the parish needed to support its poor at a time when local authorities were urged to take action against vagrants shortly after the Cato Street Conspiracy in London, when an attempt was made to blow up the entire British Cabinet and the Prime Minister).
George Newman followed on from John (after a year's break with Edward Gibbs as the landlord in 1818). He leased it from Susanna Ladd, daughter of the now deceased William. As the Wiltshire Poll books for Box in 1819 show, George kept the Swan from at least 1819 by annual renewable licence required since the Alehouse Act of 1522. These licences were called Alehouse Recognizances and it was often the case that when victuallers applied for their licences, they would stand surety or bondsman for one another. In other words, if the licence cost £10, then the bondsman or bondsmen (if there were two) had to stand surety for double that amount in case of default by the licencee during the year. And so it was that George was offered surety by Zachariah Washborne, victualler of the Bear Inn, Box in 1822. And in 1826 Elias Tuckey victualler of nearby Colerne stood surety for George Newman of the Swan and vice versa. So there was mutuality as well as competition within the trade. The fact that George had his licence renewed during the ensuing years meant that he did not fall foul of the strict laws governing the keeping of alehouses then. Although he did appear at Chippenham Quarter Sessions Court on 3 May 1819 where George Newman, liquid seller, Box was fined 9s.0d by magistrates, J Fuller and M Joy, for having a deficient ale measure. He had purported that one cup equalled one pint, when it did not. He paid up the fine.
The lease taken on from Squire William Northey of Box in 1813 was renewed by Susannah Ladd to Mr John Spencer in 1823. The lease stated: All that messuage tenement or dwelling house called or known by the name or sign of the Swan with the Garden Stable Orchard Outbuildings and Premises hereunto adjoining … being situate at Kingsdown now in the occupation of George Newman or his assigns together with all the singular ways paths passages waters watercourses yards gardens backsides cellars drains rooms easements… all manner of timber trees and other trees with the lops tops and shrouds of them (except the fruit of Apple Pear and Plumb [sic] Trees) now growing… at a yearly rent of £35. Spencer was charged to maintain at his own cost the walls posts pales rails doors windows window shutters easements partitions pavements sinks sewers watercourses pipes drains gutters vaults cellars privies doors locks keys bolts bars staples hinges glazed windows casements dressers shelves chimney pieces mantle pieces chimney jambs foot-pares hearths hearthstones and slabs and wainscots. Nothing was left to chance.
Conditions had become stricter by this time; gone were the bawdy days of the 1700s. The landlord would not have been allowed to dilute or adulterate the liquor he was selling, and would have had to use the correct measures. He should not permit any drunkenness or excessive drinking (tippling, as it was called), especially on Sundays during Divine Service hours, nor get drunk himself on his premises. He should not allow card gaming, draughts, dice, bagatelle, etc nor entertain bull, bear or badger baiting or cock fighting or any other sport, nor harbour men or women of notoriously bad fame nor allow dissolute girls and boys to meet on his premises. He was only permitted to be open late at night or early in the morning to receive weary travellers. (The detailed surviving recognizances of my Shropshire/Denbighshire innkeeper ancestors list all the above vices and iniquities).
George's opening hours would have been limited by the Box Vestry Meeting of 22 September 1820 in which It was agreed that the Publicans may draw beer from 8 o'clock to 9 in the morning, from 1 to 2 in the afternoon and from 7 to 8 in the evening and at no other time during the whole of Sunday except to Travellers passing through the Villages. As mentioned, the Swan Inn was a stopover on the old coaching road from Bath to London where the steep hill had to be negotiated by the coaches and horses. There were many accidents on the rutted mud roads so the pub would have taken in many a weary traveller. By 1823, however, this ruling had been superseded by one limiting the selling of beer in Public Houses on Sundays to one hour, namely 1 to 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Presumably to protect attendance in church.
We know that William Sweetland took over the running of the Swan Inn as licencee in 1827, as George Newman had by now become bankrupt. This was reported in in the Public Ledger and Advertiser on 9 March 1823. Notice of the bankruptcy was given at the Three Cups Inn, just outside the parish boundary, on the road between Middlehill and Bath.
We therefore assume that, although George did not move from his house on Kingsdown, he turned his labours to his trades of blacksmith and mason, one of the quarry entrances being right opposite the Swan Inn, providing the Bath stone for building as well as many more quarries in and around Box itself. As blacksmith, George would have not only repaired and daily maintained the masons' tools and agricultural implements, but he would have been able to shoe the horses as well, a job which must have kept him more than busy let alone keeping the inn. It must have been wonderful to tumble out of the Quarry entrance after a hard day’s work at the seam and be able to quench one’s thirst in the inn opposite.
In 1841 George Cannings was innkeeper living at the Swan with his wife and young daughter. On the night of the 1841 census there were 15 people within its walls, many of them labourers presumably having a well-earned drink and all of them Wiltshire folk. He was still the publican in 1851, now employing an ostler to look after the horses and with other lodgers present. George died in 1853 aged 44 years leaving his wife Sarah with five children. She re-married James Nowell of Box. The two of them continued running the Inn and by 1871 he was running it on his own. During this time an offence was committed at the Inn when stock belonging to Moses Bath, draper of Melksham, was discovered secreted at a public-house called the Swan Inn, Kingsdown Hill, Box, consisting of twelve packages of goods. Persons found to be holding such goods were to be prosecuted, implying that goods might have been distributed out of the Swan. Was the landlady aware of this, or was she an accomplice?
Northey Sale of the Inn
In 1868 the owners of the Swan, the Northey family, decided to sell the Inn by auction. James Nowell was landlord at the time and there is a report of the forthcoming sale in the Bath Chronicle of 5 March. The property listed comprised: the Swan Inn (described as a messuage or dwelling house), stables and outbuildings and pieces of land in the occupation of Mr Nowell.
Eight cottages were listed, occupied by Paul Reynolds (at a rent of £4.10s), Daniel Brown (£3.18s), Mrs Harriet Gale (£3.18s),
Mrs Ford (£3.5s), Frederick Bull (£3.10s), Charles Ford (£3.10s), Alfred Angell (£3.10s) and Mrs Dainton (£4). One piece of land occupied by Mr Tye had previously been the premises of the Old Swan. The whole of the property was held under two separate leases granted by Edward Richard Northey, Esq, and William Brook Northey, Esq, dated 20 October 1848 and 24 June 1853.
James Nowell was still landlord in 1873 when he was remanded for selling alcohol to some drunken gipsies after being told by the Police Constable to get them out of the pub, which James did not do. His conviction cost him a fine of £3 and the offence was recorded on his licence. The report appears in the Western Daily Press of 8 August 1873, when PC Hughes found five gipsies in the taproom at half-past ten on 25 July, and on the following day about eleven am. PC Hughes told James Nowell to evict them, which he did, but when Hughes returned later the party were still drinking and all drunk.
Nowell’s licence was evidently not renewed because Frederick Ranger took it over in December of that year. The Western Daily Press of 26 September reported it was on account of the house being improperly conducted and the Bath Chronicle reported on the transfer on 11 December that year. Another incident occurred there in 1874, namely a fight between two men on the premises. This was reported in the Bath Chronicle of 26 March when George Allen had stripped to the waist to prepare to fight. He was sober but very noisy and refused to leave.
In 1868 the owners of the Swan, the Northey family, decided to sell the Inn by auction. James Nowell was landlord at the time and there is a report of the forthcoming sale in the Bath Chronicle of 5 March. The property listed comprised: the Swan Inn (described as a messuage or dwelling house), stables and outbuildings and pieces of land in the occupation of Mr Nowell.
Eight cottages were listed, occupied by Paul Reynolds (at a rent of £4.10s), Daniel Brown (£3.18s), Mrs Harriet Gale (£3.18s),
Mrs Ford (£3.5s), Frederick Bull (£3.10s), Charles Ford (£3.10s), Alfred Angell (£3.10s) and Mrs Dainton (£4). One piece of land occupied by Mr Tye had previously been the premises of the Old Swan. The whole of the property was held under two separate leases granted by Edward Richard Northey, Esq, and William Brook Northey, Esq, dated 20 October 1848 and 24 June 1853.
James Nowell was still landlord in 1873 when he was remanded for selling alcohol to some drunken gipsies after being told by the Police Constable to get them out of the pub, which James did not do. His conviction cost him a fine of £3 and the offence was recorded on his licence. The report appears in the Western Daily Press of 8 August 1873, when PC Hughes found five gipsies in the taproom at half-past ten on 25 July, and on the following day about eleven am. PC Hughes told James Nowell to evict them, which he did, but when Hughes returned later the party were still drinking and all drunk.
Nowell’s licence was evidently not renewed because Frederick Ranger took it over in December of that year. The Western Daily Press of 26 September reported it was on account of the house being improperly conducted and the Bath Chronicle reported on the transfer on 11 December that year. Another incident occurred there in 1874, namely a fight between two men on the premises. This was reported in the Bath Chronicle of 26 March when George Allen had stripped to the waist to prepare to fight. He was sober but very noisy and refused to leave.
George Betteridge, Senior, depicted on the wall above the fireplace by the artist P Hopkins ARA in 1872
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Betteridge Licensees
William Berridge from Northamptonshire was innkeeper of the Swan in 1881 after taking over from Frederick Ranger in 1874. Frederick had witnessed the second marriage of my 2 x great grandfather, James Betteridge, so he must have been a friend of the family. James was the son of the George Betteridge of the portrait fame but remained firmly a quarryman. There are no supporting documents to prove the tenure of this George at the Swan but one of his other sons, Henry, became its landlord between 1886 and 1904 according to the Post Office Directories for Bath and Kelly’s for Wiltshire. My mother always told me that Henry was a short dumpy fellow with a very tall, buxom wife (Jane Hancock) and he would sit on the bench outside the Swan with his pint and with his legs dangling. This is probably the same old bench that my sister and I were seated on with our lemonade sucked through straws as children, whilst my parents and great aunts and uncles went in for something stronger, served of course by George Randall, the then landlord. |
When Henry’s wife Jane (nee Hancock) died in 1898 he retired but still kept up residency of the inn whilst Francis Goodhind became its new proprietor. He needed assistance to look after the children and he placed an advertisement in the Wiltshire Times in July 1899 for help from girl, aged about 14, used to looking after children.
In 1905 my great grandfather, the other George Betteridge, took over as mine host but left the running of the inn to Charlotte, his wife, whilst he worked the quarry opposite. Two of my great aunts and uncles were born at the Swan in 1903 and 1906 respectively and George’s mother-in-law, Mary Betteridge (formerly Smith, nee Shell), died there. George was hopeful of regaining the family cottage on Kingsdown, which had belonged to my Newman, Shell and Betteridge ancestors but was currently in the occupation of a couple by the names of Emma and Jack Ash. They were distantly related but would not give up their right to live in it, despite my great grandmother having inherited it by virtue of her mother’s will. So George and Charlotte moved away to South Wraxall to take on the Longs Arms, where they remained until George retired and they finally got their cottage back. Meanwhile a short tenure of the Swan was kept on by George’s son, Ernest George Betteridge, but he had other interests and so the inn left the family altogether at this point in 1911.
In 1905 George decided to sell some of his livestock, including a four year-old pony, which will pass motors or trams and prize-bred pigeons. I was not aware that he kept pigeons (only chickens) so maybe they were someone else’s, as George was always reported as winning prizes for his chickens and never pigeons. He did however have horse and cart.
In 1905 my great grandfather, the other George Betteridge, took over as mine host but left the running of the inn to Charlotte, his wife, whilst he worked the quarry opposite. Two of my great aunts and uncles were born at the Swan in 1903 and 1906 respectively and George’s mother-in-law, Mary Betteridge (formerly Smith, nee Shell), died there. George was hopeful of regaining the family cottage on Kingsdown, which had belonged to my Newman, Shell and Betteridge ancestors but was currently in the occupation of a couple by the names of Emma and Jack Ash. They were distantly related but would not give up their right to live in it, despite my great grandmother having inherited it by virtue of her mother’s will. So George and Charlotte moved away to South Wraxall to take on the Longs Arms, where they remained until George retired and they finally got their cottage back. Meanwhile a short tenure of the Swan was kept on by George’s son, Ernest George Betteridge, but he had other interests and so the inn left the family altogether at this point in 1911.
In 1905 George decided to sell some of his livestock, including a four year-old pony, which will pass motors or trams and prize-bred pigeons. I was not aware that he kept pigeons (only chickens) so maybe they were someone else’s, as George was always reported as winning prizes for his chickens and never pigeons. He did however have horse and cart.
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Above left: George and Charlotte Betteridge outside the Swan Inn, which they kept in 1908.
Above right: A sketch of George Betteridge by my father Wally Durston
Above right: A sketch of George Betteridge by my father Wally Durston
Land Valuation Survey 1909
The Swan Inn was assessed in the Land Valuation of 1909, a national survey of property by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lloyd George, to enable a revision of taxation on land. It was described as a house and garden, 3 rods 18 perches in size, with a gross assessed value of £17 and a rateable value of £13.12s. The occupier was EG Betteridge, my great uncle, who had taken over from my great-grandfather, and then his name is crossed out and the name of F Pullin inserted. Ernest Betteridge was still listed as publican at his marriage in Box in June 1910. The Land Valuation took several years to complete so this may be why the landlord’s name was changed during the survey period.
The Inn was now in the ownership of JH and H Blake Ltd (the Lacock Brewery) as a freehold property with the occupier’s tenancy reduced to a quarterly basis. The tithes payable to the parish of 2s.5d were to be paid by the landlord (in this case the brewery is meant) and also the insurance on the property, but the rates were to be paid by the occupier.[1]
Unfortunately no description of the property has survived for the 1909 survey, but other Box cottages belonging to my family have very detailed descriptions, giving age, building materials used etc. However the survey did list the inn's buildings and structures at a saleable value of £810, timber worth £1, fruit trees also worth £1 (there was an orchard attached) and other things growing out of the land: fences £1. The trade valuation listed 54 bottles of beer worth £27, six bottles of stout £3, 24 dozen bottles (presumably empty and returnable) with a value of 6s and 19 gallons of spirits worth £2.2s. Those were the days ! But water was still not drinkable. As late as 1929 my great-grandfather had complained to the council about the state of the water supply at Kingsdown (a well not far from the cottage to which he retired).
The Swan Inn was assessed in the Land Valuation of 1909, a national survey of property by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lloyd George, to enable a revision of taxation on land. It was described as a house and garden, 3 rods 18 perches in size, with a gross assessed value of £17 and a rateable value of £13.12s. The occupier was EG Betteridge, my great uncle, who had taken over from my great-grandfather, and then his name is crossed out and the name of F Pullin inserted. Ernest Betteridge was still listed as publican at his marriage in Box in June 1910. The Land Valuation took several years to complete so this may be why the landlord’s name was changed during the survey period.
The Inn was now in the ownership of JH and H Blake Ltd (the Lacock Brewery) as a freehold property with the occupier’s tenancy reduced to a quarterly basis. The tithes payable to the parish of 2s.5d were to be paid by the landlord (in this case the brewery is meant) and also the insurance on the property, but the rates were to be paid by the occupier.[1]
Unfortunately no description of the property has survived for the 1909 survey, but other Box cottages belonging to my family have very detailed descriptions, giving age, building materials used etc. However the survey did list the inn's buildings and structures at a saleable value of £810, timber worth £1, fruit trees also worth £1 (there was an orchard attached) and other things growing out of the land: fences £1. The trade valuation listed 54 bottles of beer worth £27, six bottles of stout £3, 24 dozen bottles (presumably empty and returnable) with a value of 6s and 19 gallons of spirits worth £2.2s. Those were the days ! But water was still not drinkable. As late as 1929 my great-grandfather had complained to the council about the state of the water supply at Kingsdown (a well not far from the cottage to which he retired).
The Swan Inn after taken over by Ushers Brewery in 1899 (courtesy Box Parish Council)
The Wiltshire Archives holds maps of the Inn dating from 1904 to 1957. The earliest one shows the main building with the stairs in the middle, a serving hatch in front of them, facing the main entrance. To the right was a tap room and a bar, and a kitchen to the left with a scullery beyond it. Outside on the left was a shed and stable and outside right a garden in which there was an outdoor urinal in the wall of the garden. The cellar ran the whole length of the main building. By 1943 the shed had been divided, so that the right-hand half nearest the house could become a scullery. The old scullery became the new kitchen, the old kitchen became the lounge, the tap room now became the bar, and the old bar, a servery. It wasn’t until 1957 that ladies and gents toilets were installed inside the pub in an extension. Up until then only Elsan toilets had been used, the ladies toilet being way down the garden. The garden is now the car park; how times have changed. Ushers Brewery had taken over the inn by 1957 and their plan shows the division of the cellar, beer to the right and two store rooms to the left. A new fireplace was added at this time into the public bar, the lounge still retaining its original fireplace but at this time blocked in.
In 1910 Ernest Betteridge appears to be letting rooms in the pub, probably on the first floor.[2] He also sold a trap in 1911 from the pub but again I’m not certain whose it was as Ernest was more interested in cars and charabancs, both of which followed on in his later life.
In 1910 Ernest Betteridge appears to be letting rooms in the pub, probably on the first floor.[2] He also sold a trap in 1911 from the pub but again I’m not certain whose it was as Ernest was more interested in cars and charabancs, both of which followed on in his later life.
Later Licensees
Frederick James Pullen, who took over from my great uncle Ernest, gave up as landlord on 27 July 1916 and George Paddock took his place. Charles Nathaniel Watts took over the Swan in 1922 and he placed an advert in the Wiltshire Times in 1924 to sell pigs. In 1928 a plain clothes policeman entered the Inn and spotted the wife of landlord Charles Watts and others playing cards with money on the table. The report in the Western Daily Press of 18 May claimed they were playing mock nap in which no money passed, even though there was a kitty of 2½d on the table. In the event the case was dismissed.
From an auctioneer’s valuation book of 1932 there is a full description of the rooms and contents of the Swan, listing every single item to be found in the inn (see download below). Even the lettering over the front entrance door was valued at 2d. The rooms consisted of a bar, smoke room, tap room, entrance and staircase, 4 bedrooms, an attic, cellar, kitchen, back kitchen, stables and garden. It lists all the glassware and crockery, ales, stouts, mineral waters, cordials, and other spirits by brand name; crisps were in tins, as were biscuits, Star, Woodbine & Players cigarettes in packets. The pumps were described as the 4-pull beer engine with piping taps, unions and lead drip tray and in the smoke rooms were two enamelled spittoons and a rosewood piano. The cellar sported horsing for casks, potato bays and a game of quoits. Outside the back there were two pigsties and a fowl house.
Frederick James Pullen, who took over from my great uncle Ernest, gave up as landlord on 27 July 1916 and George Paddock took his place. Charles Nathaniel Watts took over the Swan in 1922 and he placed an advert in the Wiltshire Times in 1924 to sell pigs. In 1928 a plain clothes policeman entered the Inn and spotted the wife of landlord Charles Watts and others playing cards with money on the table. The report in the Western Daily Press of 18 May claimed they were playing mock nap in which no money passed, even though there was a kitty of 2½d on the table. In the event the case was dismissed.
From an auctioneer’s valuation book of 1932 there is a full description of the rooms and contents of the Swan, listing every single item to be found in the inn (see download below). Even the lettering over the front entrance door was valued at 2d. The rooms consisted of a bar, smoke room, tap room, entrance and staircase, 4 bedrooms, an attic, cellar, kitchen, back kitchen, stables and garden. It lists all the glassware and crockery, ales, stouts, mineral waters, cordials, and other spirits by brand name; crisps were in tins, as were biscuits, Star, Woodbine & Players cigarettes in packets. The pumps were described as the 4-pull beer engine with piping taps, unions and lead drip tray and in the smoke rooms were two enamelled spittoons and a rosewood piano. The cellar sported horsing for casks, potato bays and a game of quoits. Outside the back there were two pigsties and a fowl house.
| swan_inn_inventory_1932.doc |
The tenancy of the inn was transferred from Charles Watts to George Butcher in 1932 but not without a struggle from the former, as the Bath Chronicle of 17 September and 8 October reported. Watts owed money to the brewery for breaking the covenant and purchasing wines and spirits from another wholesaler in Bath. He was asked to either pay up or leave the inn. When the time for his decision was up he refused to go, so the brewery made him leave through the court.
Postscript
During the time when I carried out this research, I visited the Swan, where we often had in the past held our family reunions, and
I would regale every landlord with my being descended from the George Betteridge of the fireplace wall. One caretaker landlord, with a great interest in the history of the pub, showed me the places in the pub I had never before had the privilege of seeing.
In the cellar I was shown George’s Room, one of my Georges had retained an area as his own but I never found out what for.
If it was my great grandfather then it might have been to stash the rabbits he regularly poached with the aid of his ferrets and his Airedale terrier.
This landlord also told me of the ghosts that were to be seen at the Swan Inn. The first was in the shape of a man smoking a clay pipe in the corner by the fireplace accompanied by the smell of smoke. (Could this have been George the elder?) The second image showed the bottom half of a girl in a frilly skirt with black stockings and black boots on. (We do not know of a child of our family dying there). And the third was of a man seen in the bar in moleskin breeches and hacking jacket. (Can’t be George the poacher as he didn’t die in the inn.) Spooky!
I also approached Gibbs Mew, the Brewery Company wishing to close the pub, to see if I could obtain access to or at least sight of the deeds of the inn, but they refused me saying they were in storage with all their others with their solicitors. I was certainly given much added information to the factual to spice up my family history and I recommend anyone with similar interests to do the same. If anyone can fill in any gaps to this story I would be grateful to know.
During the time when I carried out this research, I visited the Swan, where we often had in the past held our family reunions, and
I would regale every landlord with my being descended from the George Betteridge of the fireplace wall. One caretaker landlord, with a great interest in the history of the pub, showed me the places in the pub I had never before had the privilege of seeing.
In the cellar I was shown George’s Room, one of my Georges had retained an area as his own but I never found out what for.
If it was my great grandfather then it might have been to stash the rabbits he regularly poached with the aid of his ferrets and his Airedale terrier.
This landlord also told me of the ghosts that were to be seen at the Swan Inn. The first was in the shape of a man smoking a clay pipe in the corner by the fireplace accompanied by the smell of smoke. (Could this have been George the elder?) The second image showed the bottom half of a girl in a frilly skirt with black stockings and black boots on. (We do not know of a child of our family dying there). And the third was of a man seen in the bar in moleskin breeches and hacking jacket. (Can’t be George the poacher as he didn’t die in the inn.) Spooky!
I also approached Gibbs Mew, the Brewery Company wishing to close the pub, to see if I could obtain access to or at least sight of the deeds of the inn, but they refused me saying they were in storage with all their others with their solicitors. I was certainly given much added information to the factual to spice up my family history and I recommend anyone with similar interests to do the same. If anyone can fill in any gaps to this story I would be grateful to know.
Outside the Swan after a satisfying lunch and a lot of chatting and catching up.
Addendum
List of Licencees
The Swan Inn (based on Claire Diamond’s research and expanded by Jane Hussey)
1822-26 George Newman (1751-1853), blacksmith & innkeeper
1826 William Sweetland of Monkton Farleigh
1848-1853 George Cannings (1812-1853) ostler Robert Yeeles from Wellow, Somerset
1853-1859 Mrs Sarah Cannings nee Sweetland (1833 to before 1871)
1860-1873 James Nowell (1812-82) married Sarah Cannings 1860. Refused licence renewal September 1873 for harbouring goods of bankrupt Moses Bath, draper of Melksham (Bristol Times and Mirror 27 April 1865)
1873-1874 Frederick Ranger
1874–May 1882 William Berridge (b 1843 Benefield, Northants) became school marshal at Bath College, Bathwick (1891), and waiter at Sydney Wharf, Bathwick (1901), friend of George Betteridge (future landlord) and witness to his marriage.
1822-1899 Henry Betteridge (1842-1911), master quarryman & innkeeper, continued living at the Swan Inn until his death. Short dumpy man who married a tall wife, Jane Hancock.
1899-1904 Francis Charles Goodhind (married Catherine Cayford Weaver, Hemington Somerset 1893). She died 1906, he died in 1912.
1904-1908 George Betteridge (1862-1949) quarryman, (married Charlotte Smith 1883, Box). Moved to Longs Arms South Wraxall until retirement 1928 to Kingsdown. Parish Councillor for South Wraxall.
1908-1911 Ernest George Betteridge (1887-1971), son of George above. Drove charabancs, taxis and became chauffeur.
1911-1916 Frederick James Pullen, born 1882 Colerne. Formerly innkeeper of White Lion, Batheaston, then of Lansdowne Arms, Derry Hill, Calne 1911, Married Florence Ethel Large 1909 at Twerton. Became a farmer by 1918.
1916-1917 George Paddock, transferred to Edward William Fawkes 1 January 1917. (Wiltshire Times January 1917)
1917-1922 Edward William Fawkes (1862 Bisley, Glocestershire, 1938)
1922-1932 Charles Nathaniel Watts (born 1879 Ayford, Marshfield, Glocestershire). Married Edith Grant 1909, Marshfield, farmer Batheaston, died 1943, Bath)
1932-1955 George Isaac Butcher (born 1881 Bath). Married Edna Eileen Kemp 1906 Bath, 1955 at the Swan Inn
1955-1971 William Herbert Randall (born 1906 Bath, died 1976 Bath). Married Muriel L Parsons 1932, Bath.
1971-1980 Robert Shelley
1980-1984 James McColm
1984-1986 Anthony Charles Lovell
1986-1988 Anthony Kerswell
1988 Michael Worrall
Temporary landlord appointed by the Salisbury based brewery whilst Swan was in sale negotiations was Mr Jelly from Northants.
References
[1] The Wiltshire Times 8 July 1899
[2] The Bath Chronicle 8 September 1910
Sources
Wiltshire Quarter Sessions records held at Wiltshire Record Office, now Wiltshire History Centre
Census returns
Box Tithe Map 1842
Box Vestry minutes, Wiltshire Record Office, now Wiltshire History Centre
Box , Ashley & Ditteridge Manor Survey & Tax List 1793-4, Wiltshire Record Office, now Wiltshire History Centre
Box Accounts of the Overseers of the Highway, Wiltshire Record Office, now Wiltshire History Centre
Land Valuation 1901 IR58/815950 Hereditament No. 112 held at The National Archives
Swan Inn plans 1904-1957, Wiltshire Record Office, now Wiltshire History Centre
Auctioneer’s Valuation Book, Foley, Son & Mundy, Trowbridge 1932, Wiltshire Record Office, now Wiltshire History Centre
Wiltshire Alehouse Recognizances, Wiltshire Record Office, now Wiltshire History Centre
Wiltshire Poll Books 1819 Box, Wiltshire Record Office, now Wiltshire History Centre
Shropshire Alehouse recognizances held at SRO Shrewsbury
Newspapers as cited
[1] The Wiltshire Times 8 July 1899
[2] The Bath Chronicle 8 September 1910
Sources
Wiltshire Quarter Sessions records held at Wiltshire Record Office, now Wiltshire History Centre
Census returns
Box Tithe Map 1842
Box Vestry minutes, Wiltshire Record Office, now Wiltshire History Centre
Box , Ashley & Ditteridge Manor Survey & Tax List 1793-4, Wiltshire Record Office, now Wiltshire History Centre
Box Accounts of the Overseers of the Highway, Wiltshire Record Office, now Wiltshire History Centre
Land Valuation 1901 IR58/815950 Hereditament No. 112 held at The National Archives
Swan Inn plans 1904-1957, Wiltshire Record Office, now Wiltshire History Centre
Auctioneer’s Valuation Book, Foley, Son & Mundy, Trowbridge 1932, Wiltshire Record Office, now Wiltshire History Centre
Wiltshire Alehouse Recognizances, Wiltshire Record Office, now Wiltshire History Centre
Wiltshire Poll Books 1819 Box, Wiltshire Record Office, now Wiltshire History Centre
Shropshire Alehouse recognizances held at SRO Shrewsbury
Newspapers as cited