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© Bryan Spink 2005 |
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INN HISTORY |
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SAXON TIMES Monasteries were established after the arrival of Christianity and these were required to provide for travellers with the building of hospices close to the abbey, monastery or where travellers came together. From these establishments, Inns and Hotels have their roots. During the 8th century houses were set up by the public to provide food and refreshment and were known as - Taverns, derived from the Latin taberna. They were more upmarket than local drinking places which became to be known as alehouses. By the 16th century hospices, - Taverns and alehouses were recognise in law by the way they were licensed and obligations on the licensee. However there were regional variations. In the North and parts of the West, most premises were called Inns and their licensees Innkeepers. After Charles II came to the thrown alehouses gradually became known as public houses and the less successful Inns and - Taverns went into decline. INNS
Travel increased in the Middle Ages with crusades and pilgrimages. As well as Wines, Ales and Beers, the Inns offered food, lodging, stabling and parking for carriages and waggons. Warehouse facilities were offered in towns and sales and auctions took place. They became important trading posts for carriers travelling with their wares. After the Restoration they became fashionable and social centres for the affluent. In towns, dinners, celebrations, theatricals, meeting places for clubs and sporting events were provided. They were a place for the rapidly expanding gentry and upper-classes to conduct their affairs. By the late 18th century the urban inns face competition from fashionable lodging houses and eating and chop houses. Innkeepers did up their houses and called them hotels taking advantage of the appeal of French culture. Many of the facilities offered by inns had been made redundant by newly built commercial halls, theatres, exchanges and auction rooms. Smaller and less fashionable inns were closed as canals were built and carriers relied less on horse transport. By the Regency many inns were no more than superior alehouses. TAVERNS Doctor Johnson - there is ‘no private house in which people can enjoy themselves so well as at a capital - Tavern’ Taverns began to lose out to coffee-houses as places for the upper classes. Coffee-houses first appeared in the 17th century selling coffee, cocoa, wine and brandy. Journals, magazines and, in some cases, libraries, were provided. Some - Taverns were turned into coffee-houses and others turned rooms into coffee rooms. The smaller coffee houses couldn’t attract the wealthy and so catered for the less well-to-do. By the beginning of the 19th century the - Tavern was replaced by the public house which had been increasing in the facilities provided. One such - Tavern was the George and Vulture in Lombard Street, London. It was a flourishing establishment in 1283, mentioned by the poet Skelton during the reign of Henry VII. It is mentioned in Dickens’ Pickwick Papers and was later one of the city’s first coffee-houses. It later reverted to a public house and later was a Trusthouse Forte restaurant. PUBLIC HOUSES From the early times inns, - Taverns and alehouses have been meeting places and social clubs where people gathered for pleasure and business. A small Hampshire pub ‘The Bat and Ball’ is known as the home of cricket. Here the 18th century landlord, Richard Nyren, captained a local team and defeated an all-England side 29 times. The Jockey Club and the British Association were founded in inns. Various laws have governed the licensed trade from early times, determining the number of establishments in a locality, the permitted drinking hours and measures to be used to sell liquor.
The result of this was an increase in the value of premises which could pass the test and financial difficulties for publicans who had to meet the new standards and the increased cost of leases. This was the main reason for the growth of the tied-house system. Another effect was a growth of illicit drinking in unlicensed premises By 1820 a campaign to open up the trade was begun because of the worry of outside competition. The Beerhouses Act of 1830 was enacted by the Duke of Wellington. It was thought that by increasing the facilities for drinking beer (by not requiring a justices’ licence) spirit drinking would be reduced, particularly gin. The golden age of Victorian pubs emerged. Also the number of scruffy beershops increased and as a result the Wine and Beerhouse Act 1869 was introduced. This resulted in the London brewers’ interest in firmer ties on their products. THE TIED HOUSE in 1319 Thomas Drinkwater granted the lease of the ‘Bear’ in Southwark to James Beaufleur who promised to buy all his wines from his landlord. The Bear, which stood until London Bridge was widened in the 19th century, was one of the earliest known tied houses. In olden times the lack of transport services and the poor keeping qualities of beer made the service of a large area by a brewery impossible. This changed with the development of the railways. The events of the 18th century stimulated brewers to impose ties and control was imposed through leasehold or freehold possession. In London the tie was usually by mortgage. The Wine and Beerhouse act of 1869 brought stricter control of licenses which caused brewers to revise their policies . They acquired as many licensed premises as they could. The mortgage tie gave them insufficient power to ensure that standards were met so they bought assured outlets for their products at great cost. As a result Watney, Combe, Reid paid no dividends from 1908-1916 after their Deferred Ordinary Shares were written down by 75% in 1906. Their value was not written back until 1925. Brewery companies decided for each property whether to let it to a tenant or put it under management. A pub may be let for short renewable periods by a tenancy or for longer periods by a lease. They could be let to small individual tenants or companies operating a number of tenancies who themselves installed managers. The brewer often charged a low rent (‘Dry Rent’) due to the difficulty in finding tenants with sufficient capital but also charged the tenant more than other customers for beer (‘Wet Rent’). Rents generally increases when this system was discontinued. From May 1990, following an inquiry by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, brewery companies who owned more than 2000 pubs had to release the tie on all products other than beer and allow licensees a draught cask-conditioned beer ‘supplied by someone else’. These brewers also had until 31 October 1992 to either dispose of either their brewery business or the excess of licensed premises or to release their tie on half the excess houses. This led to the formation of large pub operating companies which now dominate the industry. |
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Purpose-built public houses began to appear at the beginning of the 19th century. Existing houses were improved and enlarged. Even the smallest village pub had two rooms: a taproom and a parlour. Parlours in Town houses became smart with good furnishings, carpets and musical instruments. In the late 1820s the bar counter appeared following the introduction of the beer engine. Extra rooms were used for the consumption of spirits, music, dancing and for clubs. Games were also provided.
Great improvements to the standard and standing of ale or public houses were made in the late 18th century due to the improvement in the lot of the working classes. As a result of the movement of population from the country to the city, the alehouse’s traditional market became segregated. Because of social disorder at the time, the more prosperous railed against the alehouse as places of assembly for the disaffected poor. A Royal Proclamation was issued in 1787 against vice and immorality and it was used to exercise ancient duties. Any information about the misconduct of publicans was sought. Licenses were refused for many reasons and the power of renewal was used to insist on improved accommodation standards. There was a view that drinking and the other activities of the alehouses interfered with practices in factories and workshops. One licensee complained that:
All ale for sale in alehouses was originally brewed either on the premises or in a nearby outhouse with the brewing traditionally done by women (ale-wives or brewesses). By the late 15th century there were wholesale brewers in London selling ales and beers to alehouses. In 1880 one third of beer brewed for sale was still brewed on the premises but the number of home-brew houses declined after the brewers and distillers started the tied house system.