Mount
Bures Community Web Site
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Who sold Beer first in the village ?Before the 1900`s there
were very few licensed Public Houses in villages and towns. They were
instead called Beerhouses or Brewhouses.
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During this time "The
Rumpes" consisted of a cottage and 5 acres of land. NB:- the map indicates the position
of "Rumpes" and the
cottage, however the "Inn" did not exist at this time.
Apparently John Newman built some of the walls of flint for it has been reported, it`s nearly impossible to knock in nails for hanging fitments etc. We can only presume some of the material may have come from the railway. NB:- The property on the map known as "Solliers" - this was the local Workhouse. In 1841 it was closed and sold to Mrs Mary Newman, wife of our John Newman, the miller. However, the construction of the
railway in 1848/9 resulted in:-
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(c) Records indicate that in 1601, Mary Wood was licensed to keep a Beerhouse in Mount Bures. The "Woods" family owned land somewhere in the region of Peartree Lane.
So there we have it, the first Beerhouse was in 1601 ! (ref Mt Bures Its Lands and People, page 107)
In 1863 it is recorded that James
Deal incorporated a shop and it was occupied by William Birch (labourer)
and Samuel Grimwood a school teacher. Whether the shop was ever a Beerhouse,
is unknown.
However we know for certain
in 1869, the the building (we now
know as the Thatchers) was sold at auction at the Three Cups Hotel in
Colchester as the "Thatchers Public House" with Charles Eley
as the Licensee. This was the time it obtained its first full licence.
Some of the registered landlords or Licensees (they may not all have
been the owners):-
1869 Charles
Eley (Licensee)
1874/Charles Eley
1877/Jeremiah Pettitts (Licensee)
1878/Jeremiah
Pettitts (Licensee)
1881/Henry Bull (Licensee)
1882/Henry Bull (Licensee)
Until 1884,
the premises was actually located in the Parish of Bures Hamlet. In
those days, Hamlet owned parcels of land all around Mount Bures including
the site the Thatchers stands on and the field behind. The change came
about on 24th March 1884, when the land was transferred into the parish
of Mount Bures.
At some unknown
date John Newman sold the Beerhouse to Mr Downes.
1886/Henry Bull
1891:-
January 20th Newspaper report:-
Richard Cook the innkeeper of the Thatchers Arms at Mount Bures was
charged with unlawfully selling whisky without a licence. The landlords,
Steward and Pattisson of Colchester and Norwich were negotiating a licence.
To apologise and pay the costs
Census for 1891 states Sam (publican)
and Harriot Adcock.
Extract from the Essex
County Standard, September 9th 1892 The full report took up a complete column of the page. Joshua Diggens fined for selling illegal beer. No address is given in the full report apart from "...being beside the river" Possibly then down by Staunch Farm or Long Meadows He was eventually found Guilty and fined £2 with 9s 5d costs |
1892/
it`s
presence in the village was assured, when Mrs Ann Downes (now widow)
the current owner, conveyed the property over to Greene King, Brewers
of Bury St Edmunds. The conveyance also included the two fields known
as the "Rumps" (5 acres) and "Backhouse" (5 acres)
Commercial brewers like Greene King established in
1887, started to supply properly managed "Inns" and brought
some form of standardisation and hygene to the drinking community.
1893/Sam Adcock (Licensee)
1895/Sam Adcock
1898/Sam Adcock
1899/Sam Adcock
1901/Sam Adcock
1902/Sam Adcock
1908/Sam Adcock
1909/Charles Newcombe Warner (Licensee)
1917/Harry Jaggs (Licensee)
1925/Harry Jaggs
1926/Cyril Cook (Licensee)
1933/Cyril
Cook (Licensee)
1960/Cyril
Cook died and
the Licensee passed to
his daughter Corrie
(and husband Gerald Lock)
1961 Rumpes cottage was purchased from
Greene King by Ernest Chaplin, back into private ownership.
Ida McMaster local Historian recorded in 1967:-
An outstanding festive occasion was arranged by the present landlord and his wife, Mr and Mrs Gerald Lock. A whole ox was roasted in the traditional manner on a large mechanical home made spit outdoors and tended by relays of willing helpers from early morning until the first revelers arrived in the evening. Dancing was provided in the nearby marquee with a specially prepared floor with refreshments of all choices. Cars the bugbear of the twentieth century, stretched each side of the road for an amazing distance in spite of the fact the "Rumps" field had been hurriedly baled to provide parking space. Two fatherly policemen eventually arrived to speed up the parting throng.
1977
Corrie and
Gerald Lock
purchased the Thatchers from Greene King Brewery. Stangely enough the
beer on sale continued to be IPA and GK Abbott.
Around this time the Thatchers was the HQ of the Mount Bures Morris
Men with the level crossing gates as their logo
The Thatchers was very popular
it even had its own helicopter pad for visitors.
A "Major Striker" who worked for a Scottish Distilliary(Queen
Anne Whisky) used the pad when he visited the Lowdon-Shands who owned
"The Hall" adjacent to the Church.
On another occasion a Chris Clark flew by helicopter from London to
visit the pub, returning by taxi.
A restaurant extension was
built and named "Garners Tye" after the field of the same
name to the rear of the pub.(see map above)
"Tye" means green and in the early 1800`s it would have been
used by the community for grazing animals.
1986 Gerald Lock died
1992 Corrie
Lock retired.
Considering her father Cyril started in 1926, "The Thatchers had
been run by the same family for 66 years.
Everyone in the area knew 'The Thatchers'
and it was a sad day when Corrie decided to retire. At one of her leaving
parties, 18 draymen from Greene King, hired a minibus from Bury St Edmunds
to come and say 'goodbye'.
1992
After
a short closedown period, Terry & Frances
Martin (Licensee) of The Swan at Chappel, re-opened
the pub in time for the 9th April, General Election. They were the ninth
Full Licensees of the Thatchers since 1869.
Various people managed the pub on behalf of Terry
& Frances Martin between 1992 and 2006 (see below)
October 2006:-
Enquiries made with Greene King Brewery Museum at Bury St Edmunds to
see if they held any surviving records on the property. Unfortunately
they disposed of this portfolio many years go (1961) and all the records
were subsequently lost.
November 2006 - Mitch, Tony and
Janet Adams(Licensee)
now the owners of a new leasehold agreement from Terry Martin.
Re-furbished and supported by Adnams
Brewery of Southwold.
2014 - New Owners take over the Thatchers
Decades after it was first
opened as a Brewhouse, the "Thatchers" is still thriving and
well supported.
Historical
data supplied by- Ida McMaster,Ian Stratford, Corrie Lock & Kelly`s
Directory
Researched and written
by Alan Beales.
Updated 05.03.2012
updated 08/10/2014
updated 03/02/2017