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

... also featuring cinemas, photographers, and other diversions

 

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Waggon and Horses Inn — Fleetgate

The Waggon & Horses Inn can be seen on the left of this c.1910 view, looking north along Fleetgate. Note the enamel Linsleys & Co sign on the pub wall.

An 1850s bill-head for brewer Alfred Moss of the Waggon & Horses.

A floor-plan of the pub c.1930.

The Waggon & Horses Inn was one of Barton’s oldest and most well-established inns. It was situated on a prominent site at the junction of some of the oldest streets in the town, being on the corner of Fleetgate and West Acridge, and opposite the entrance to High Street. From early photographs of the building it appears to have dated from the early 18th century or possibly even older. An auction notice from the Stamford Mercury in June 1839 noted:

‘Freehold Public House and Land.

To be SOLD by AUCTION, By Mr. Wm. Morley, At the Sign of the Waggon and Horses in Barton upon Humber, in the county of Lincoln on Monday 17th June 1839, at 4 o’clock in the afternoon ...

All that old-established and well-accustomed PUBLIC-HOUSE known by the sign of ‘The Waggon and Horses’, with the Barn, Stables, Brew-house, Yard, Garden, And Appurtenances thereto adjoining, situated in Fleetgate, in Barton aforesaid, and now in the occupation of George Barker.

Also all those Two Cottages or Tenements adjoining and lying on the north side of the said Public-House, and now let to under-tenants. And also all that close, Piece, or Parcel of Meadow or Pasture Land, containing 3 acres, 2 roods, 30 perches, or thereabouts lying in the Ings of Barton aforesaid, also in the occupation of the said George Barker’.

Robert Barnard noted in his work on Lincolnshire breweries that: ‘In 1844 a malt kiln in Fleetgate, with dwelling house, granaries, out offices, etc, in occupation of Sarah Cook, were to let. There were two cisterns capable of steeping 7 and 8 quarters of Barley.’

This was almost certainly linked with if not adjoining the former inn, as in 1844 Sarah Cook (and also previously her husband Joseph) was victualler at the Waggon & Horses, and in the following years Alfred Moss, presumably a relative, was also listed as a brewer at the inn.

A billhead dated 1855 confirms Alfred Moss as an Ale & Porter dealer in Barton, presumably from the Waggon & Horses brewery. There were maltings at the opposite end of Fleetgate, opposite the railway station, however (see later).

In the 1850s the Lincolnshire Observer newspaper noted that ‘Good Beds and Excellent Stabling’ were on offer at the Waggon & Horses. The pub was latterly owned by T Linsley & Co of Dagger Lane, in Hull, and following closure in 1928 when the pub was made redundant, plans for converting the former pub to shops were submitted. These were drawn up by builder G Thompson, of Ashby near Scunthorpe and approved in August 1929. The work was never carried out, and very sadly the building was demolished in 1933 to make way for the still extant building that was constructed in the same year. This was formerly the Hull Savings Bank but is now the headquarters of the St. John Ambulance Brigade. The shadow of the Waggon & Horses gable can still be seen on the end of the surviving adjacent building. The plan shown here has been re-drawn from the plans for the proposed conversion, and gives an idea of the layout of the pub around 1930. It is clear from the huge central chimney-stack, and baffle-entry, that the building was potentially extremely old indeed.

Some references to the Waggon & Horses:

1822 — William Brooks, Waggon and Horses
1826 — Francis G Waelsby, Waggon & Horses
1828-1829 — John Brewer, Waggon & Horses
1835 — Thomas Minson, Waggon & Horses
1841 — Joshua Cook, publican (census)
1841-1842 — Joseph Cook & Co
1844 — Sarah Cook
1846-1849 — Alfred Moss, (also noted as a brewer)
1855-1868 — John Burnett
1872 — Mrs Agnes Black
1876 — John Wroe
1881-1885 — Charles Ward
1889-1896 — Walter Parkinson, Waggon & Horses P.H. (died 6.6.1897 aged 34)
1900-1913 — Mrs Alice Parkinson
1919 — Alfred Espin
1921-1922 — Mrs Lucy Elspin, Waggon & Horses, 17 Fleetgate
1926 — Mrs Lucy Johnson
1928 — Redundant, Mrs Lucy Elizabeth Johnson
1930-1932 — ‘Fleetgate, no.17, late Waggon & Horses Inn – empty’ (Kelly’s directories)

The site of the pub as it appeared in 2018.

1 Waggon & Horses
2 Coach & Horses
3 Red Lion
4 Flying Horse

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