Page 28 - Thrapston Life September 2022

Over the last 388 years there
have been many drinking
establishments in Thrapston,
Denford and Islip which are no
longer with us. Just before the
lockdowns began, I gave a talk
at the Local History Society on
the closed village pubs in the
Thrapston area, a follow-up to my
earlier presentation on Thrapston’s
closed hostelries dating back to 1634. I cannot do this subject justice in under two pages
of this magazine but will give a flavour of
the details discovered. These six pictures of Thrapston show, from left to right with earliest recorded dates of trading: top row; The George (1777), The Swan Hotel (1634), The King’s Head (1698): and bottom row: The Red Lion (1830), The White Hart (1702); and with a small entrance below the white awning, The Plumber’s Arms (1830).
Other recorded houses in Thrapston are
The Queen’s Head and Duke’s Head (both 1779); The Royal Oak (1789); The White Horse (1850) which stood in nowadays Coronation Gardens; The Golden Key (1860) possibly
called the Ship earlier in part of what is now Auburn Fox; The Carpenter’s Arms; Horton’s Inn possibly serving the Vulcan Ironworks where the cattle market now is; and The Cottage just over the Titchmarsh boundary at the top
of Oundle Road. The last issue of the History Society’s magazine Strapetona carried a 21-page illustrated article detailing my findings with many stories about both the closed houses as well as from the ones still open.
Denford had two public houses, both seen on this hand-coloured postcard from circa 1910. The Cock is still open, the sign for which can be seen on the patch of grass. The Rose and Crown is one building further back on the corner of Child’s Street. Dating from the early 1800’s it finally closed in circa 1960.
28
GLANCE AT
THE PAST
Eric Franklin looks back