Pubs

The Admiral Harvey
 

"Bridge Street has quite its full share of public houses, namely, the Black Horse, the Admiral Harvey, the Town Arms, and the Wheelwrights' Arms.  The Black Horse is a survival of the name of the old inn which stood where the Eagle Hotel now is, and was taken down about the year 1839.  The Admiral Harvey is a very old public house, although in a new building; and the Wheelwrights' Arms has been where it is, ever since Catherine's Place was built, and has always been kept by the Gurr family."  (J.B.J. 1907)

The only one of these hostelries remaining today is the Admiral Harvey.


 
The original house was well established as a country pub by 1857, before the houses were built in the area.  It was surrounded by pasture land from which the licensee, Mr Care, sold dairy products to supplement his income from the bar.  Smith (1991) reports that an annual fair used to be held on part of these pastures, but the license was put in jeopardy when the fair started to attract "undesirable elements".

In January 1903 the lease on the old building expired and plans were approved for rebuilding.  The new house opened before the demolition of the old one was finished, so it must have been built on an adjacent site.

A bomb fell in the yard on 22nd August 1917 and further damage was done to the building in World War II, but repairs were carried out in the summer of 1949 and the pub is still open in 2007.

The picture below shows the house as it looked in 1983.


Picture Courtesy of Eddie Chard