Community (Warminster) – Page 157

The King’s Arms, Market Place / North Row, Warminster

Reg Cundick and Danny Howell in the book The Inns And Taverns Of Warminster, published in November 1987, stated:

The King’s Arms, Market Place/North Row, Warminster
There have been three public houses with the name The King’s Arms in Warminster. The first one was recorded by both Daniell and Halliday. The latter mentions the date 1719 and adds that the King’s Arms was still in existence in 1740.

It was one of the places used for distributing charities to the poor. In his will dated 25th February 1719, Warminster resident William Slade, who died in 1723, left one half-crown to each of “Twenty poor housekeepers of the Parish, who did not get anything from the Collection for the Poor”. This was to be distributed on or about 15th January every year. Another “hand-out” called Slade’s Charity (a rent charge of 50 shillings on a freehold property at the entrance to Meeting House Lane) was distributed at Christmas.

The inn was not recorded in the 1801 Survey Of Warminster; it had obviously closed before this time. Halliday, in 1830, said the site of the inn was then occupied by Cusse the grocer. Cusse and his family had a shop on the corner of Meeting House Lane (now known as North Row) and Market Place for many years. Mrs Mary Hatton (1881 – 1976) in an article she wrote in 1970, looking back at her childhood, recalled: “The worst smell of all came from a grocer’s shop owned by Peter Samuel Cusse, which was later the Co-op, and he made tallow candles every week”. The Co-op moved into Cusse’s premises shortly before 1907 and continued trading there until 1982. After they had left, the building, with its current address of 1 Market Place, became Pleasures toy shop. This closed in August 1987.

The Hatchet Inn, Warminster

Reg Cundick and Danny Howell in the book The Inns And Taverns Of Warminster, published in November 1987, stated:

The Hatchet
We are all familiar in Warminster with the General Post Office [address: 71 Market Place] on the corner of East Street and Station Road. This was formerly the Somerset and Wilts Savings Bank, built in 1852 on the site of the Hatchet Inn. The latter had been destroyed in a fire in 1789, having stood there since the 16th century. This part of Warminster was, for many years, known as Hatchet Corner.

The Three Horse Shoes, Warminster

Reg Cundick and Danny Howell in the book The Inns And Taverns Of Warminster, published in November 1987, stated:

The Three Horseshoes
This inn, on the north side of the Market Place, was open for business in the early 1700s.

It had a covered entrance leading to the rear and to several cottages at the far end of the yard, alongside a footpath led out into the Avenue. Behind the inn was plenty of stabling for horses and in 1867 it was licensed to let post horses.

In the 1800s Richard Collier and his son John were at the Three Horse Shoes for over 70 years.

The closure of the Three Horse Shoes occurred about 1968. A modern shopping precinct, built on the site of the inn, its yard and outbuildings, was completed by 1973. The inn itself occupied the site now used as a pedestrian entrance at the Market Place end of the shopping area. The development was appropriately named The Three Horse Shoes Mall.

The Black Bull, Warminster ~ Scene Of A Murder In 1820

Reg Cundick and Danny Howell in the book The Inns And Taverns Of Warminster, published, in November 1987, stated:

An inn known as The Bull or The Black Bull, recorded in the 1801 Survey of Warminster, was situated at West End; the tenant being A. Whittock. West End in 1801 stretched from the Obelisk to Bleeck’s Buildings at West Street. The eastern part of it is known as Vicarage Street today, the other part being West Street.

An entry in Book 13 of The Parish Registers of St. Denys’ Church, Warminster, reads: “Patrick McKey (an Irishman) barberously [sic] murdered at the Bull Inn, West End, August 30th 1820, aged 49.”

The inn was still called The Bull in 1822 but by 1830 the name had changed to The Star.

Warminster Town Hall Was Built On The Site Of The George Inn

Danny Howell and Reg Cundick in the book The Inns And Taverns Of Warminster, published in November 1987, stated:

The George Inn, Warminster
Both the Rev. John J. Daniell and John Halliday recorded the George Inn, in Warminster, saying that it dated from the 1700s. Its site was later occupied by the Town Hall (built 1830) on the corner of Weymouth Street and Market Place. The 1801 Survey Of Warminster refers to this plot as “the late George Inn,” so the inn had closed prior to that time. The property became Armstrong’s Bank, which was demolished and replaced by Warminster Town Hall in 1830.

The Black Swan, Vicarage Street, Warminster

Reg Cundick and Danny Howell in the book The Inns And Taverns Of Warminster, published in November 1987, stated:

The Black Swan
There were two inns in Warminster called The Black Swan. The second inn with the name The Black Swan in Warminster is listed by Halliday and quoted as being at West End.

In the 1801 Survey Of Warminster it is described as “the late Black Swan” at Plot No.25, West End. Obviously it had closed before the Survey was made. It can be identified today as being No.10 Vicarage Street; a red brick residence (a listed building) opposite the entrance to the Minster Primary School.

The Black Swan, Near The East Turnpike, Warminster

Reg Cundick and Danny Howell in the book The Inns And Taverns Of Warminster, published in November 1987, stated:

There were two inns with the name Black Swan in Warminster, but at different times. The first is listed by both Daniell and Halliday. They say it was situated near the East Turnpike in the 1700s but its location is unknown today.

The Half Moon, Warminster

Reg Cundick and Danny Howell in the book The Inns And Taverns Of Warminster, published in November 1987, stated:

The Half Moon
Although it was in existence in the early 1700s, the Half Moon had closed before the end of the century. It was situated just beyond the old East Gate, which at that time was at the junction of Imber Road and Boreham Road. The present address of the inn’s site is 11 Boreham Road.

For robbing Benjamin Rebbeck of Stockton (Wiltshire), Matthew Gardner and John Wheeler were tried at Salisbury Assizes and sentenced to death. While awaiting execution, Gardner made a confession to the turnkey at Fisherton Gaol. This included the statement: “I then broke into the shop of Mary Hardy at the Half Moon (Warminster) and took a quantity of cheese”. On 11th August 1783, Gardner and Wheeler were conveyed on a fish cart to Sutton Common, near Warminster, where they had committed their crime, and hung on a gallows, purposely erected. A large crowd of spectators watched the robbers’ gruesome demise.

The King’s Head, Warminster

Reg Cundick and Danny Howell in the book The Inns And Taverns Of Warminster, published in November 1987, stated:

The King’s Head
The King’s Head was listed by both Daniell and Halliday. The latter says it was situated next to and above the Angel at the High Street. This means it was west of St. Laurence’s Chapel, where Hodges have a menswear shop today. The building they now trade from was renovated in 1856. At the same time, six old houses which had stood for centuries on the High Street frontage of St. Laurence’s Chapel were demolished. The King’s Head had ceased to operate before 1801, hence no mention of it in the 1801 Survey of Warminster.

The Plume Of Feathers, Warminster

Reg Cundick and Danny Howell in the book The Inns And Taverns Of Warminster, published in November 1987, stated:

The Plume Of Feathers
A “tolseld” or “tolsey” (toll booth) stood in Warminster in the late 14th century. This was probably the one repaired in 1563 – 1564 (Victoria County History of Wiltshire, volume VIII, page 129). It may have been near the corner of Weymouth Street and Market Place (where Martin & Stratford, the estate agents, now have their offices). The Plume of Feathers, later the King’s Arms, which stood there until the 1830s, was traditionally said to have been the site of a former town hall building where, no doubt, tolls were collected.