Prince of Wales - Old Pubs and Old Ales of Tamworth

 Click on a thumbnail image to change the large photograph below - scroll the gallery with the arrows

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Licensees of the Prince of Wales 1861 - Phillip Parker 1872 - John Hartless 1880 - Mrs Elizabeth Hartless 1884 - Edwin Godderidge Ashwood 1900 - Thomas William Salt 1908 - James McLean 1911 - 1916 Edward Thomas Houching 1916 - 1927 Arthur Haines 1927 - 1929 Hubert Pryer Pearson 1929 - Alfred William Barber 1936 - Daniel Hill 1940 - Fras. H. Farmer 1954 - 1956 Dorothy Lillian Farmer 1956 - 1973 William Shepherd 1973 - 1977 Anthony Albert Carroll 1977 - 1979 Denis Graham Fisher 1979 - 1986 Colin David Mendelsohn 1986 - 1988 Joseph Garey 1988 - 1993 Shelagh Glennis Tuffield 1993 - 1994 Mairi MacLeod 1994 - Graham Charles Pates

Trading as Oliver's, the old Prince of Wales is located on the west side of the pedestrianised Lower Gungate, opposite the charming almshouses erected in 1913 on the site of the original homes for the poor built by Thomas Guy in the 17th century. The attractive red brick public house was rebuilt by owner-publican Edwin Ashwood in 1894. Although the interior has been completely updated there are still original features to be found on the site, particularly in the back yard where the old stable block is still in place.

Originally called the Legs of Man, the history of the pub can be traced back to the late 1850's but the original building was timber-framed and almost certainly dated from the 17th century. The first image in the gallery above is an artist's impression of the building in its halcyon days.

The Legs of Man was originally a beerhouse. Public houses before 1830 were either inns or taverns - the key difference being that at an inn you could sleep as well as eat and drink. Most publicans strived to gain inn status for this allowed them to remain open as long as a bed was empty and simple victuals were offered to any lawful visitor or traveller. The established inns and taverns faced more competition from the abundance of beerhouses springing up after 1830. The beerhouses were generally private dwellings with one or two rooms converted following the controversial Duke of Wellington's Beerhouse Act of 1830. The Act, designed to curb the rise of gin consumption and to bypass local magistrates legislation, allowed any householder or ratepayer, on payment of two guineas to the Excise, to sell beer and cider from their property. It is thought that Phillip Parker paid his two guineas in 1858 and opened up the historic building to Tammies as a 'new' drinking venue.

It will probably never be known why Tamworth-born Phillip Parker chose the sign of the Legs of Man, an extremely rare pub sign. Although now identified with the Isle of Man, the symbolic use of the Legs of Man originated in Sicily, where the emblem has been found on a vase dating from the 5th century B.C. It is thought that the symbol was brought north by The Vikings. Naturally, the Isle of Man has a pub of this name but there were examples in England. In Leyburn the name emerged on a tavern colloquially known as the Three Kettle Spouts and there was once a Legs o' Man in Blackburn.

Phillip Parker was a bricklayer by trade and an existing resident of Gungate Street before applying for his beerhouse licence. He and his wife Mary Ann lived on the opposite side of the road almost opposite the Bell Inn. Mary Ann had passed on later in the decade but Phillip Parker was helped at the Legs of Man by his step-daughter Hannah Barber.

Phillip Parker was succeeded in the early 1870's by John and Elizabeth Hartless, a couple who promptly re-named the pub as the Prince of Wales, a title traditionally bestowed upon the Heir Apparent to the reigning monarch. The 2nd Volunteer Battalion of the Prince of Wales' North Staffordshire Regiment was established around the corner in Church Street, perhaps an influence on the pub's new moniker. Former labourer John Hartless was born in Fazeley but Elizabeth hailed from Essex. The bearded figure wearing the bowler hat and long apron is probably John Hartless in images 2 and 3 in the gallery above.

Following her husband's death, Elizabeth Hartless held the licence briefly - possibly during her "widow's year". She later moved up the street and lived next door to the Star Inn along with her son John and daughter Elizabeth. When the latter married brewery agent George Baker, Elizabeth Hartless moved with them to a house in Cherry Street.

Edwin Ashwood was the next publican in charge of the Prince of Wales. The son of a Gloucestershire-born joiner, he initially followed in his father's footsteps as a woodworker. In 1877 he married Eliza Whitehouse, a Tammy who had grown up on Gungate Street. The photograph of the Ashwood family was taken at the rear of the Prince of Wales in late 1890 or early 1891. This date can be determined because of the children in the photograph. The census of 1891 recorded a five month-old Arthur Ashwood. However, Eliza can be seen her holding the youngest child at that time - daughter Agnes. The details recorded by the census enumerator assists with identification of the children in the photograph. The young boy sat on the ground between his mother and father is Herbert Ashwood. The eldest daughter Elizabeth [born 1880] is in the centre of the three girls sat on the kitchen table. She is flanked by a rather cross-looking Hilda and the younger Emily.

Once the Tamworth-born licensed victualler acquired the site, it is thought that Edwin Ashwood rebuilt the Prince of Wales over a number of years, adding and extending as and when funds were available. The main building was completed in 1894 and this is the year recorded in the dated stone on the frontage, along with the initials of Edwin Godderidge Ashwood. Appropriately, the panel also features the Prince of Wales' Feathers, the Heraldic badge of Edward, the Black Prince. Born in 1330, he was the eldest son of King Edward III. The German motto Ich dien translates to "I Serve" and, according to legend, was taken from King John of Bohemia, whom he defeated during the Battle of Crécy. The ostrich feathers were worn by his adversary and the Black Prince, in admiration of his bravery, took them from his helmet. 

Edwin Ashwood not only rebuilt the Prince of Wales, he also elevated the pub's status by obtaining a full licence in August 1890. He also gained inn status for the hostelry and, with the addition of a large stable block, made the former beerhouse one of the busiest houses on Gungate Street. Once he had achieved his objectives, he sold the pub and retired to Woodland House at Hopwas with his large family. Possibly inspired by his father's building achievements, son Herbert Ashwood studied to be an architect. The legacy of Edwin Godderidge Ashwood could still be found at the front door of the pub until relatively recent times because his name appeared in the glass over the arched entrance [see photo in gallery].

The new publican of the Prince of Wales at the dawn of the 20th century was Thomas Salt, a former clerk who had previously lived in John Street before marrying his sweetheart Caroline who hailed from Barton-under-Needwood. To help them run the Prince of Wales, which now had hotel status, they employed Alice Nicholls as a barmaid and Maria Cart as a domestic servant. Also living on the premises were the Salt's young daughters Ethel and Eva.

Things had come full circle with the arrival of Thomas Salt at the Prince of Wales. His father had worked on the site of the pub when it was occupied by the joiner and builder Samuel Watton. Born in Amington in October 1812, Thomas Salt joined Watton's workforce at the tender age of six. He grafted throughout the 19th century, working first as a labourer and, in later years, at Amington Colliery. After a two month illness, he died at his home in Alfred Street in January 1905 whilst his son was still working on the site of his first workplace.

The Prince of Wales Hotel had been acquired by Ind Coope who, although founded in Essex, had a large brewery operation at Burton-on-Trent. Ind Coope initially owned the Star Brewery that was founded by George Cardon in 1709 at Romford, Essex. The brewery was acquired by Edward Ind and J.Grosvenor C.E.Coope in 1799. They opened a brewery in Burton-on-Trent in 1856. Indeed, that was the first instance of a London brewer opening an establishment in Burton to take advantage of the Staffordshire town's famed water. Part of their 19th century brewery still stands, including the water tower. In 1934 Ind Coope merged with their next door neighbours at Burton and traded as Ind Coope and Allsopp Ltd; merging with Ansell's Brewery and Tetley Walker in 1961 to form Allied Breweries.

The merger with Ansell's explains why the 1970's photographs in the gallery show the Prince of Wales with the Aston brewery's livery. Founded by Joseph Ansell in 1857, Ansell and Son were originally maltsters and hop merchants but moved into the brewing business in 1881. They became a limited company in 1889, registering as Joseph Ansell and Sons Ltd. When the company acquired Holt's in 1934 it established Ansell's as one of the largest regional breweries in the UK. The brewery at Aston Cross was closed in 1981; their range of beer's brewed at Burton-on-Trent are now a subsidiary of the Carlsberg Tetley Group. The Prince of Wales became part of the Pubmaster empire.

In the gallery there is also a lovely photograph of Bill Shepherd who kept the pub with his wife Ethel. At this time the pub still staged dancing on Monday and Friday evenings, probably in the club room that was added to the Prince of Wales by Edwin Ashwood all those years ago.

© Kieron McMahon [Pubs and Breweries of the Midlands: Past and Present]