Other Licensed Premises in Woburn
In the past Woburn was a thriving market town and continued to be so until the end of the nineteenth century, despite serious fires in 1595, 1645 and 1724. Not surprisingly it contained many more watering holes than it does today, and some of them are difficult to trace. The 25 individual web pages catalogue a total of 30 different licensed premises but there are another 15 which can be identified from various sources.
Black Lion
The only mention of this public house| in records held by Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service is in a register of dues owed to the Vicar of Woburn, which is where the list of licensees below comes from. This evidence indicates that the inn may have been short lived, opening around 1726 and closing around 1764.
Interestingly the inn is mentioned wrongly in the deeds of the Wheatsheaf|. The Wheatsheaf was previously known as the White Lion, but from 1803 the deeds mistakenly describe it as formerly being known as the Black Lion. This is, presumably, because another inn called the White Lion had opened in Woburn and the clerk drawing up the deed knew there had recently been an inn called the Black Lion in Woburn, but not the older White Lion which had closed some time before 1724. This mistake indicates that the Black Lion had certainly closed by 1803 and, in fact, probably some years before then, to allow the clerk to mistakenly put it where the Wheatsheaf stood, since the Wheatsheaf and the Black Lion both existed at the same time; thus a closure date of around 1764 seems reasonable. Unfortunately there is no indication of where the inn stood, but most licensed premises were within a hundred yards or so of the Market Place.
List of Licensees: note that this is not a complete list. Italics indicate licensees whose beginning and/or end dates are not known:
1726-1733: Thomas Cave;
1734-1735: Elizabeth Cave;
1736-1747: John Atkins;
1749: Joseph Eaton;
1756: John Middlebrook;
1757: Cooper;
1759-1764: Mrs.Roe
List of Sources Held at Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service:
- P118/3/1: parochial dues: 1709-1796 [1726-1764]
Blackbirds
This inn is known only from a stray reference in the Woburn burial register, noting burial, in April 1741, of John Thubes, a soldier, who died at the inn.
List of Sources Held at Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service:
- BPR III: burial of John Thubes who died at inn: 21 Apr 1741
Crooked Billet
This public house is known only from licensees being mentioned in the register of dues owed to the Vicar of Woburn for premises in the parish; it seems to have been very short lived, opening in or around 1720 and closing in or around 1731. Interestingly the licensee Richard Fisher was also licensee of the Plough|, which the register notes was burned in the great fire in Woburn in June 1724 (which destroyed 39 houses). It seems that Fisher moved his business to the Crooked Billet whilst the Plough was being rebuilt. He left both houses in 1731/2. The record does not show where the inn was but, if was near the Plough, would have been somewhere in the market square, behind 17-18 Market Place
List of Licensees: note that this is not a complete list. Italics indicate licensees whose beginning and/or end dates are not known:
1720-1721: Turner/Taylor;
1721-1724: John Burrows/John Taylor;
1725-1731: Richard Fisher
Closed around 1731
List of Sources Held at Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service:
- P118/3/1: parochial dues: 1709-1796
Cross Keys
The sole reference to this inn in documents held by Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service is in a statement by a witness at the Bedford Assizes of Winter 1680 who noted staying at the inn for the night with her husband in 1679.
List of Sources Held at Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service:
- HSA 1680 W81: 1679
Crown
The sole reference to this inn in documents held by Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service is of a mortgage by Sworder of Luton of various of his licensed houses in 1853. The place is not noted in Kelly's Directories around this date, indicating that it was a beerhouse| rather than a full public house. There is no evidence as to its location, though the Directory records beer retailers in Bedford Street, Chapel Street and Northampton [i.e. Newport Pagnell] Road, the latter almost certainly being the Birchmoor Arms|.
List of Sources Held at Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service:
Z1211/2/2: mortgage by T.R.Sworder to London Banking Company of various properties: 17 Dec 1853
Falcon
This inn is known from a stray reference in the Woburn burial register, shown below. It may the same inn as the Old Falcon, which was a previous name of the later White Lion|.
List of Sources Held at Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service:
- BPR III: burial of Mary Williams who died at inn: 27 Feb 1699
Golden Ball
This inn is known from only one stray reference in items held by Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service. The fact that it is mentioned only in one year - 1736 - shows that it was very short lived.
List of Licensees: note that this is not a complete list. Italics indicate licensees whose beginning and/or end dates are not known:
1736: Read Harris
List of Sources Held at Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service:
- P118/3/1: parochial dues: 1709-1796 [1736]
Horseshoe
This inn is known only from a reference in court roll of the Manor of Woburn Abbotts in 1635 when the admission of William Ashton was recorded for a term of 61 years from 25 March 1634.
List of Sources Held at Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service:
RBox 237: Manorial Court Roll: 1635
King's Head
This public house is mentioned only in an account of the property of Woburn Abbey drawn up on its dissolution by Henry VIII in 1539; it was then tenanted by Thomas Slyngesbye, along with a farm and land in Husborne Crawley and a number of closes in Woburn. He had been admitted tenant for 41 years in 1511.
List of Licensees: note that this is not a complete list. Italics indicate licensees whose beginning and/or end dates are not known:
1511-1539: Thomas Slyngesbye
Leather Bottle
This public house is known only from licensees being mentioned in the register of dues owed to the Vicar of Woburn for premises in the parish; it seems to have been another of Woburn's short lived eighteenth century public houses, opening in or around 1738 and closing in or around 1767. Its location within the town is not known.
List of Licensees: note that this is not a complete list. Italics indicate licensees whose beginning and/or end dates are not known:
1738-1739: Widow Ludgate;
1746: Richard Manley;
1761-1767: Mrs.Manley
List of Sources Held at Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service:
- P118/3/1: parochial dues: 1709-1796 [1738-1767]
Robin Hood and Little John
This house is known only from references in two deeds referring to the White Lion|. In 1733 it and the White Lion were used by Martha Snagg, widow as part of the settlement in her marriage to John Geary of Newport Pagnell - it is described as a common alehouse in Woburn. The next year, in a deed poll, she devised it, after the deaths of her and her husband, to David Green of Bedford, bricklayer. Incidentally, John Geary is noted as the licensee of the Nags Head between 1735 and 1737 and of the Plough in 1740.
List of Licensees: note that this is not a complete list. Italics indicate licensees whose beginning and/or end dates are not known:
1733-1734: Martha Snagg
List of Sources Held at Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service:
R6/63/3/6: part of marriage settlement of Martha Snagg and John Geary: 22 Sep 1733;
R6/63/3/12: demise by Martha Geary to David Green of Bedford, bricklayer: 27 Jun 1734
Saracen's Head
This inn is only known from a reference in a deposition given at Assizes in 1681.
List of Licensees: note that this is not a complete list. Italics indicate licensees whose beginning and/or end dates are not known:
1681: John Miller
List of Sources Held at Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service:
- AD3272: John Miller landlord, man seen wearing stolen clothes at inn: 1681
Three Pots
The only reference to this public house is of the baptism of the landlord, Robert Martin's, daughter in 1711. Interestingly a Robert Martin was landlord of the George| and neighbouring Red Lion |in the 1770s and 1780s; clearly these are not the same man but the one may be a relative of the other.
List of Licensees: note that this is not a complete list. Italics indicate licensees whose beginning and/or end dates are not known:
1711: Robert Martine
List of Sources Held at Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service:
- BPR III: baptism of Anne, daughter of Robert Martine of inn: 28 Dec 1711
Wrestlers
This inn is only known from a reference in the Woburn burial register of a death of a strange man at the inn.
List of Sources Held at Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service:
- BPR III: death of strange man who died at inn: 22 May 1691