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The pubs and breweries
of Barton upon Humber,
Barrow and New Holland...

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Queen Inn—Butchery

a.k.a Six (or sometimes Seven) Bells

Situated in the old Butchery just off the north side of the Market Place, this building was formerly an inn and is now used as an Evangelical Church. Above eye-level, presumably re-painted over original lettering, large bold black-on-white letters still spell out QUEEN INN. It was built on the site of Barton’s old ‘Moot Hall’ (derived from the Saxon word gemot, signifying a court). Historian Mr Hall notes this in his 1856 work (see bibliography), saying of the Queen Inn:

‘... which is called in old deeds ‘the Moot Hall’. Here the Saxon courts were held for the manor or district, previous to the establishment of the more modern court leet of the manor, which is annually held under the crown, for admitting copyholders, and appointing three market keepers, two coal meters, a pindar, and a bailiff. Constables, swineherds, neatherds, and ale tasters were formerly appointed.’

The extant building is most likely the same building that was formerly known variously as the Six Bells, Seven Bells, and Queen Inn. It was recorded as early as 1813 when Mr Cox was noted as the victualler at the Seven Bells in a Hull Packet newspaper report in November that year. Licensing reports in the Hull Packet also reveal regular prosecutions of the landlord of the Queen Inn, such as in 1880 when William Huddleston was fined for allowing gambling (Bagatelle games for money) on the premises. He was fined £1-10s.

The building as it was in 2004.

Later, in the Hull & North Lincolnshire Times of 13 January 1866, a report from the local Petty Sessions noted:

‘REFUSAL OF THE NEW LANDLORD OF THE QUEEN INN BY THE BENCH.
Edward Revill, late landlord of The Queen’s, Butchery, Barton, applied to the Magistrate to have his license transferred to Henry Portugal, to whom it had been endorsed and who had sold under it for the last seven weeks.
 The Chairman said the bench had heard an improper character of the applicant, Portugal, that he was a person of unsteady habits and fond of drink; that the information had been obtained from the Magistrate’s Office, Louth.
 Superintendent Thoresby said that Portugal harboured prostitutes in his house and was often drunk himself.
 Portugal seemed astonished at the state of affairs and the Magistrates unanimously refused to allow him the license.
 On the evening of the same day, The Queen’s was closed by order of the Police.’

Alterations were carried out in 1903, when a Mrs Alice Lammin was the proprietor, and in 1907 the Queen was closed following redundancy. It was likely to have been closed under the so-called Balfour Act (see Coach & Horses) as £700 was paid in compensation to the owners Hewitt Brothers of Grimsby according to the Stamford Mercury in July 1907. Following the loss of its licence, the property was used as a lodging house until c.1914 after which it became private dwelling houses. In 1963 Hewitt Brothers sold the building to a local plumber who used it as a store and workshop. The sale to the plumber included a covenant prohibiting the site from ever being used again for the manufacture or sale of alcohol; it was this covenant that enabled the church to purchase the building some years later. Another potential buyer who was planning to convert it to a restaurant, reconsidered when advised of the covenant.

In 1970 part of the rear yard was sold to the nearby National Westminster Bank and in 1978 it was bought by the Barton Evangelical Church. Following extensive renovation the first service was held in the building in September 1980. The building was made a Grade II Listed Building in 1972 when it was described as ‘early 19th century’.

Some references to the Queen Inn:

1792 — Ann Cox (conveyance documents)
1813 — At the house of Mr Cox, the Seven Bells, Butchery, Barton
1822-1829 — Ann Cox, Six Bells, Butchery
1835 — George Hopper, Six Bells, Butchery
1841 — Ann Cox, innkeeper, aged 60 years (census)
1849-1863 — James Walker, Queen, Butchery
1867 — Ann Revill (licence)
1868-69 — William Bell (licence)
1871 — Thomas Good, ‘Six Bells’, innkeeper (census)
1871 — Rebecca Widnal (noted in the census)
1872 — George Quibell Hall
1876 — William Bickerton
1881 — William Huddleston, ‘Queens Inn’ Butchery (census)
1882-1885 — William Huddleston
1889 — Richard Tupling, Queen Inn
1891 — C F Tupling, innkeeper (census)
1892-1893 — Charles Frederick Tuplin
1896-1901 — William Thomas Lammin
1901 — William Lammin, aged 41 years, (census)
1905-1907 — Mrs Alice A Lammin, Queen Inn

A re-drawn plan of the Queen Inn as it was c.1903 (note the bow-window, now lost).

1 Wheatsheaf Inn
2 George Hotel
3 Queen Inn
4 White Lion Inn
5 Black Bull Inn
6 Old Mill
7 Corn Exchange Club

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