Magdelen College Macray's Archive © Magdalen College Oxford
The Elder Tree Main Street
"Is it a 16th century pub, a haunted nunnery or just a village meeting place?"
The 16th Century reference is from a Lincolnshire Independent Newspapers article dated July 9th 1997.
But is it fact or journalistic invention?
PRELIMINARY NOTES COMPILED BY: Alan Garratt & John Hart
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LICENSE TRANSFERS, PLANNING APPLICATIONS, CENSUSES AND REPORTS.
1844 Mr. Hitchins held an inquest at Horsington on Friday last, on the body of Benj. Roberts[1], landlord of the Alder Tree[sic] , who had been knocked down in a row in his house on the night of the 30th ult. After a long and patient investigation, it appears that he died of serous apoplexy, and not from any injury received in the row. Verdict accordingly. (Lincs, Rutland & Stamford Mercury Fri. Dec 20 1844).
1855 Post Office directory "Mrs Ann Roberts - beer retailer" (Entry).
1872 Whites trade directory "Miss Eliza Roberts - beerhouse" (Entry).
1881 Samuel Humphrey b 1849 at Alder [sic] Tree Horsington (Census)
1891 David Curtis to Jason Stothard (Transfer).
1894 Charlotte Goodyear’s application for full license refused - renting from Alfred Hall, Horncastle (Report).
1911 William Goodyear aged 75 Been [sic] house keeper (Census)
1914 William Newton Goodyear to William Donson[2]. (Transfer)
1962 F Bryan to Fred Swallow. (Transfer)
1970 Derek Creasey[3] to Roger Palmer. (Transfer)
1972-85 Ron & Cynthia Walker. (Transfer)
1986 N. Cruickshanks. (Transfer) (Planning) Granted for Extensions to the pub.
1987 Mrs C. A. Humphrey (Planning) Granted for a bungalow. Occupational residency condition lifted on appeal 1989.
1988 Caroline & Alexander Humphrey to Horace Guilbert. (Transfer).
1997 Mr & Mrs Rush (Planning) Granted for alterations to include a conservatory (Stella and "Mallie" Rush)
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[1] Benjamin Roberts is listed in the 1841 census in Horsington age 55 b 1786 m 1813.
[2] Donson (b. 1888 d. 1968) was licensee from 1914-52. Shown on 1921 census at Elder Tree Inn occupation ‘Shoeing and General Smith’. By 1939 Master Blacksmith at Horsington/Stixwould. Donson was summoned in 1918 for selling beer ‘other than in a corked or sealed vessel’ to a child under 14 and was ordered to pay a fine of 25s. and 1s. 3d. Costs.
[3]1965 B G Creasey’s (Report: B G Creasey a haulage contractor of the Elder Tree Inn whose lorry overturned in collision on Bardney Causeway)
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Planning notices.
From the list of ‘Landlords’ above we can start to see a timeline. We know the Elder Tree was in the ownership of the Market Rasen Brewery Company until the time it ceased to operate in 1926. And that its ownership passed to James Hole & Company[4], then in 1971 to John Smith’s Tadcaster Brewery Company, then in 1973 to the Courage Brewing Company. Ownership from then until Richard Brown sold it in 2020, to a local farming family, is yet to be confirmed.
The time The Market Rasen Brewery Company first owned the pub is uncertain, however, there is an advert from 1908 (above left) which indicates their outlets in neighbouring Bardney and Minting but not Horsington. The pub is listed as a James Hole & Co. pub (as is the Black Horse in Bardney - however, no mention of a Minting pub or off licence) so it could be assumed that they inherited it upon taking over. No record can be found that it was listed as a Courage pub.
[4]The current owner of the adjacent ‘Fenfields’ kindly shared some documentation from his deeds which has helped shed some light on the pubs history. In particular a conveyance and supporting documents from 1926. (Between 1987 & 1989 'Fenfields' was originally planned as a modern residence for Mrs. C. A. Humphrey the landlord of the pub. The occupancy condition imposed by ELDC was successfully appealed).
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Going back to the Enclosures period (mid 1700’s) the site and surrounding land was in the ownership of Thomas Vernon, a major landowner in the parish. It was listed as “Enclosure 90” and ran alongside the road from the corner of Horncastle Road along to Garden Colony on Byways Lane.
On the 1886 OS map, which accompanied the 1926 conveyance, the curtilage is shown to include five buildings of various sizes. The Smithy, and the land behind it, has been replaced by the driveway and current property known as ‘Fenfields' (built circa 1985). The larger building opposite the Smithy is probably the building that we know as the Elder Tree.
The 1926 conveyance records the Market Rasen Brewery Company selling “The Elder Tree” to Thomas Hole & Company, together with land and outbuildings. It refers to the property as a “Beerhouse” (see Wikipedia entry below)
EXTRACT FROM THE 1926 CONVEYANCE
Transcript.
A messurage* or tenement* used as a Beerhouse and known by the name “The Elder Tree” together with the Blacksmiths Shop and Carpenters Shop hereto belonging and a piece of land containing by admeasurement* Three areas and Fifteen perches more or less.
*Legal terms.
Abridged Wikipedia entry:
A Beerhouse was a type of public house created by the Beerhouse Act 1830, legally defined as a place "where beer is sold to be consumed on the premises” [not wine or spirits]. Public Houses were issued with licences by local magistrates under the terms of the Retail Brewers Act 1828, and were subject to police inspections at any time of the day or night. Proprietors of the new beerhouses, on the other hand, simply had to buy a licence from the government costing two guineas per annum, equivalent to about £150 as of 2010. Until the Wine and Beerhouse Act 1869 gave local magistrates the authority to renew beerhouse licences, the two classes of establishment were in direct competition. [Beerhouses have been eclipsed by pubs over the years although some still existed towards the end of the twentieth century].
Further reports:
In Mar. 1913 There was an application to make certain alterations. Market Rasen Brewery Co. intention to alter character of the building to make it ‘better fitted for accommodation persons desiring refreshments’ and to meet Horncastle RDC requirements and put the house in a better condition generally. Presumably this corresponds to the replacement of the thatched roof?
1924 F Simpson, Bardney, opens branch cycle shop in Elder Tree Yard.
1971 permission granted for structural alterations .
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The beerhouse known as Elder Tree Inn has been a social meeting place, fundraising, music, dinner, auction sale, raffle and firework display venue and has hosted spider-racing and a conker championship plus a ‘Bungee Extreme’ event in 1994 with full sound and light show and bouncy castle! In 1997 the Inn was altered and extended with a new conservatory and 40-seater restaurant.
In 2016 it was to become the first pub in the UK to sell '˜Island Brew', brewed in the Isle of Man and infused with Rubrum berries from Tristan da Cunha, the worlds remotest island. All thanks to a local resident who was once the UK’s representative for the island.
NB. Lots of drunken cases involving the pub recorded in Victorian and Edwardian press, often involving repeat offenders, but not detailed here. Including Elton Scott of Hale Farm.
Landlord Richard Brown with Tristan flag and leaflets, serves Horsington resident John Butters (left), visitor Mandy Brown (to his right), Tristan-born Ian Brown (visiting from Buckinghamshire)
1997 Newspaper Advert