Exeter Arms Public House: Southill Road

The Exeter Arms building has perhaps been in existence since around the time of the battle of Waterloo. Before this it was a small cottage which was left in his will of 1782 by Richard Brown to John Garrett. Garrett died in 1814 and left the cottage to his children who immediately sold it to Samuel Gambrell, a blacksmith from Tilbrook. By the time he mortgaged the property to John Beedham in 1821 it had become two cottages "recently erected by Samuel Gambrell" so presumably he had knocked the old building down and built on its site. Gambrell sold the cottages to John Battams, a farmer from Hardmead in Buckinghamshire in 1825 and he sold them to George Peregrine Nash, a brewer from Bedford and it is presumably at that point that the building became a licensed premises. The first mention of it as such occurs in licensing records for 1847 when it is referred to as a beershop, i.e. only able to sell beer and cider and not wines or spirits, the licensee was James Berrington. He acquired a spirit licence in September 1855:

Bedfordshire Times 8 September 1855. Report of Bedford Division Petty Sessions:

‘New Licence: Mr Eagles junior applied for a licence to sell spirituous liquors on behalf of James Berrington, keeper of the Exteter Arms beerhouse, Cardington. The applicant, Mr Berrington, had kept the house for the sale of beer during 18 years and not a single complaint had ever been made against him. The house was roomy, had good stabling; was far superior in its general appearance and arrangements to the great majority of village inns, and posessed every convenience for carrying on a considerable trade. There was no opposition, and the bench granted a licence.'

It took its name from the Earls of Exeter, who had been Lords of one of the manors in Cardington from 1577 until the manor was dissolved in the mid 17th century, and who still owned land such as Exeter Wood into the 1870s. The Exeter Arms closed in 1988.

Rating Valuation of Exeter Arms in 1927 [DV1/C116]

In 1927 the public house| was valued under the 1925 Rating Valuation Act at which time the valuer noted it was of red brick and slate and comprised a bar, smoke room ("very small"), bar parlour and kitchen downstairs with a cellar below and three bedrooms above. Outside were a stable with a loft over and a barn. The licensee "does not keep takings" and reckoned to sell about two barrels of beer a week and about a gallon of spirits a month as well as a small tobacco trade. Modest though this trade was it was booming by comparison with the Kings Arms|

References:

- GK115/1: receipt of legacy ("a little tenement or dwellinghouse") by John Garrett from Richard Brown and Mary, his wife: will 1782, probate 1788;
- GK115/3: will of John Garrett; made 1782, proved 1814;
- GK115/2: feoffment from Richard Brown, John Gambrel and Martha, his wife, John Mayes and Mary, his wife, Avice Brown, Hannah Brown and Elizabeth Brown (all children of Mary Brown, née Garrett) to Samuel Gambrel of Tilbrook, blacksmith: 1814;
- GK115/4: four fifths of two cottages recently erected by Samuel Gambrell on site of previous cottage conveyed by John and Martha Gambrell, John and Mary Mayes, William and Avice Nicholson, Thomas and Hannah Squires to Samuel Gambrell, correcting defects in GK115/2: 1821;
- GK115/5: mortgage from Samuel Gambrell to John Beedham: 1821;
- CLP13: Register of Alehouse Recognizances: 1822-1828;
- GK115/6: remaining one fifth conveyed by Elizabeth Brown to Samuel Gambrell: 1823;
- GK115/8: conveyed by Samuel Gambrell to John Battams of Hardmead [Buckinghamshire], farmer and grazier: 1825;
- GK115/13: two cottages conveyed by John Battams to George Peregrine Nash of Bedford, common brewer: 1830;
- GK3/3: schedule of deeds of properties of Wells & Winch including Exeter Arms: 1830;
- GK161/1: abstract of title of William Joseph Nash to licensed premises: 1867;
- GK161/2: mortgage of licensed premises by William Joseph Nash to Barnards bank: 1867;
- GK159/1: mortgage of Exeter Arms and also Crown, Bedford, St.Mary and Five Bells, Riseley by William Joseph Nash to Henry Wilson Sharpin and Jeremiah William Haddock: 1875;
- GK161/5: mortgage of all property by William Thomas Nash with Henry Wilson Sharpin and Jeremiah William Haddock: 1882;
- GK3/1a: conveyance from William Pritzler Newland, Emily Cressy Nash, Florence Mary Nash, Rosa Gertrude Nash and Constance Eveline Nash to Newland & Nash Limited of all properties: 1897;
- GK3/1b: trust deed to secure debenture stock for Newland & Nash Limited listing all properties: 1897;
- PSB9/1: Register of Alehouse Licences - Bedford Petty Sessional Division: 1903-1935;
- DV1/C116: rating valuation: 1927;
- GK297/2: conveyance of all property from Newland & Nash to Wells & Winch: 1938;
- PSBW8/3: Register of Alehouse Licences - Biggleswade and North Bedfordshire Petty Sessional Divisions: 1976-1980

List of Licensees: note that this is not a complete list. Italics indicate licensees whose beginning and/or end dates are not known:

1847-1868: James Berrington [died 1868];
1868-1869: Sarah Berrington [died 1890];
1871-1877: Benjamin Minney;
1881: John Day;
1885-1893: George Richardson;
1893-1898: Frederick Walker;
1900-1903: Thomas White;
1903-1939: George Monk;
1939-1948: Harry Surridge;
1948-1952: Cecil J.Surridge;
1952-1956: Jack F.Newton;
1956-1958: John Lumley;
1958-1964: William E.George;
1964-1966: James Johnson;
1966-1972: Frank Archibald Turner;
1972-1977: Winifred Agnes Edith Turner;
1977-1988: Terry Booth McCarthy
Public house closed 1988