The White Lion Inn and Public House Woburn

White Lion Inn: 20 Market Place, Woburn

Woburn has had three inns called the White Lion at different times. The first was in the Market Place, on the site of what later became the Wheatsheaf| (for which see) and must have closed before 1720.

2 Park Street, site of the second White Lion, in March 2007

White Lion Inn (earlier Old Falcon, then Green Man): 2 Park Street, Woburn

The second White Lion was in Park Street and was sold by Daniel Giles of Winslow and his son William to Daniel Snagg of Woburn, park keeper in 1720, for £84, at this date it is described as the Old Falcon. Daniel Snagg died in 1730. Daniel's widow Martha married John Geary of Newport Pagnell, victualler in 1733 and each put two public houses into the marriage settlement, he two houses in Newport Pagnell, she the Robin Hood & Little John and Green Man in Woburn; clearly the Old Falcon had now been renamed the Green Man.

Martha Geary devised the Green Man, after the deaths of both her and her husband, to Thomas Cawne Joseph Monk as trustees for her nephew Joseph Monk of Marston Moretaine, her siblings Thomas Monk of Heath & Reach, Francis Monk of Aspley Guise, Elizabeth Pearse of Marston Moretaine and Hannah Geeves of Woburn. Martha died in 1756 and John Geary sometime later. In 1797 Martha's siblings (or their children where they had since died) gave the Green Man, now called the White Lion, to Thomas Harris, executor of George, who had lent money by way of mortgage on the property, that mortgage now being "much more than the same (i.e. the Green Man) is now worth to be sold". Thomas Harris sold the Green Man, now called the White Lion, to Francis, Duke of Bedford in 1799 for £400. It looks as if the Duke closed the inn either on purchase or shortly thereafter as a deed on 1803 refers to a cottage "now divided into two tenements or dwellings and late called or known by the name of the White Lion…" The inn was on the site of the current 2 Park Street, which, by an analogy with 20 Market Place, built of the same brick and in the same style, was built in the first half of the 19th century.

2 Bedford Street, the former third White Lion, in March 2007

White Lion Public House: 2 Bedford Street, Woburn

The third, and last, White Lion was in Bedford Street and is first noted there in the parochial assessment register of 1813. It is last mentioned in a directory held by Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service in 1854 indicating that it must have closed around that time. Thomas Evans' survey indicates that the site was the modern 2-4 Bedford Street (next door to the Black Horse) and included not only the inn but three houses, two shops a barn and a stable with a total of five separate occupiers. It seems reasonable to suppose that the largest building, the modern number 2 (in 2007 called Matilda Bay Too), was the inn itself. Given that the licensee in 1813 was a Catherine Evans it seems a reasonable guess that she was related to the William and John Evans, licensees of the White Lion in Park Street in 1799 - perhaps the business simply moved premises.

In 1927 the premises was valued under the 1925 Rating Valuation Act - the valuer noted that the owner was the Duke of Bedford and the occupier H.J.Fisher The premises comprised both the modern 2 and 3 the latter being, then as now, the Post Office. The buildings were built of brick and tile and comprised on the ground floor, a shop (17½ by 14½ ft), post office (16 by 14ft), a telephone exchange (10½ by 7¾ft), a hall, living room (13½ by 15ft), kitchen and parlour, linen cupboard and cellar. On the first floor were a reception room, three bedrooms, a box room and wc. On the second floor were three attics. Outside were a barn, paper store, pony stable, garage, stable for two horses, store barn with a loft, battery room for the Post Office and a printers business consisting of a machine room (27 by 16½ft) containing a Wharfdale printing machine (cylinder double demi), a platen printing machine (Crown Folio), a guillotine (27 inches) and a 3½ horse power gas engine. There were two compositing rooms (16¼ by 19ft and 15½ by 19ft) one of which contained a Sun platen printing machine (8 by 12ft) and a ruling machine (2ft 3in wide).

List of Sources Held at Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service:

- BPR III: burial of a strange boy who died at inn: 17 Oct 1694;
- P118/3/1: parochial dues: 1709-1796;
- R6/63/3/1-18: deeds: 1720-1799;
- R1/351: map of the centre of Woburn: late C18;
- P118/28/2: parochial assessment book: 1802-1833;
- R6/63/3/19: draft lease of former White Lion by Duke of Bedford to Thomas Goodman and Mary Woods: 1803;
- R1/78: Thomas Evans' map accompanying R2/69: 1821;
- R2/69: Detailed survey of Woburn made by Thomas Evans for the Duke of Bedford: 1822

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

20 Market Place, Woburn

1709-1712: Brooks;
1717: Brett;
before 1720: Joyce Paybody
Inn closed before 1720

2 Park Street, Woburn

1720-1733: Daniel Snagg;
1733-1734: Francis Weldale and Elizabeth Grey;
1765: Thomas Caustin;
1796-1797: William Evans;
1799: William Evans and John Evans
Inn closed around 1799

2 Bedford Street

1813-1814: Catherine Evans;
1815-1847: Thomas King;
1850: John Evans;
1853-1854: Henry Pursell (also carrier)
Public house closed after 1854