Three Tuns - Tamworth - Old Pubs and Old Ales of Tamworth

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

.

Licensees of The Three Tuns 1818 - Charles Hawkins 1834 - Ann Hawkins 1851 - Mary Long 1868 - John Patchitt 1878 - William Henry Harding 1888 - Thomas Haynes 1891 - Joseph Raybon 1896 - Job Walton 1900 - Charles Smith 1901 - William Adie 1904 - William Cooper 1911 - 1913 William Statham 1913 - 1916 James Cooper 1916 - 1917 Alfred Wilkie 1917 - 1920 Samuel Griffiths 1920 - 1921 Walter Henry Simmons 1921 - 1924 Isaac W. Ramsell 1924 - 1928 Oliver Barker Ward 1928 - Mrs Elizabeth Ward 1936 - Joseph Tomson 1966 - 1969 Wilfred Nicholls 1969 - 1970 William Hugh Griffin 1970 - 1978 Victor Arthur Cole 1978 - 1988 John Clive Hart 1988 - 1992 Ian John Lewis 1992 - 1993 Thelma Joyce Rawlings 1993 - William James Sammons

The gallery above features photographs of the original Three Tuns, its replacement of 1937, a map dated 1900 and some images of the streets around the building which will place both pubs in their contextual setting. The 1900 map shows that the original pub was located on the corner of Brewery Lane, a lost thoroughfare that, as its name suggests, led to the town's major brewery close to Ladybridge. The Castle Brewery had numerous owners during the 19th century but the most famous company to trade on the site was Morgans. This company, along with its modest estate of tied houses, were acquired by Frederick Smith Ltd. in 1942. 

The map shows the close relationship the Three Tuns has enjoyed with the neighbouring Old Boot Inn. Like the Three Tuns, the latter is still trading though the buildings on the corner of New Street have long since disappeared. The two pubs are now separated by a wider but shorter New Street that services the tower blocks dominating the skyline of this part of town. The Queen's Head was another close competitor and was just across the road on the corner of Calcutta Row [later Orchard Street].

Although a couple of pubs in Lichfield Street have survived, most have vanished from Tamworth's landscape. The thoroughfare's halcyon days were in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when taverns and beerhouses were in abundance. Establishments like the Recruiting Serjeant, Holly Bush, Stag's Head, Malt Shovel and the Hare and Hounds all thrived when Lichfield Street hosted the town's horse market. Horsefair Green was at the western end in the area known as The Bradfords. This 'lower' part of Lichfield Street was in fact called Otewell Strete [Outwall Street] in the 13th century. The term Bradfords derived from the 'broad ford' across the River Tame. The success of the market was such that it extended up most of Lichfield Street.

The origins of the market can be traced back to a grant for two fairs made by King Edward III in 1337. These were held on St.George's Day and St.Edward's Day, along with the four succeeding days. Horses were paraded and shown on one side of Lichfield Street whilst prospective purchasers stood on the other side in order to evaluate them from a short distance. In every town in England where there was a market there were plenty of pubs - and Tamworth was no exception. In addition, a number of businesses offering supporting services opened along the thoroughfare. There were a good number of shoeing smiths, forges and wheelwrights - some combined with the taverns themselves. The decrease in the number of pubs along Lichfield Street correlates with the decline of the horse market.

The Three Tuns was erected on or close to the Town Hall. Divided by the county boundary, Tamworth is unique in that, prior to a charter of 1560, both the Warwickshire and Staffordshire parts of the town had its own court leet and town hall. The original town hall in the Warwickshire section of town was in Market Street close to the site of the building erected by Thomas Guy in 1701. The town hall for the Staffordshire half of Tamworth was at the junction of Lichfield Street and Brewery Lane, a narrow road leading to the River Tame known as Wyburne Lane in 1318. Although the role of the building changed after the incorporation of the Borough in 1560, the old town hall survived until 1701.

The close proximity of the Three Tuns to the town's brewery may be the reason for its name. The sign of the Three Tuns is fairly prevalent and not surprising since a tun is a large cask with a capacity of two pipes (four hogsheads) that traditionally held wine but were also used for ciders and ales. But why three? The reason is that Three Tuns are used in the arms of the Worshipful Company of Vintners [1437] and also the Worshipful Company of Brewers.

The Three Tuns was part of the large Peel estate and in the early 19th century was kept by the Hawkins family. Mary Long was employed by Ann Hawkins in the 1840's and eventually took over the licence when the old lady passed on. Born in Whittington in 1810, she kept the pub herself but was helped by her Wilnecote-born cousin Charles, a former sailor. She also employed a servant to help with the duties around the house.

Mary Long later employed her niece Anne and took in the Patchitt family. Hailing from the Lincolnshire village of Ancaster, John Patchitt worked as a gardener. He and his wife Abigail had two daughters, both of whom lived at the Three Tuns. Mary Long supplemented the household income by taking in a lodger. John Patchitt probably helped out at the pub when he'd finished his gardening duties at night and took over the licence of the Three Tuns when Mary Long hung up her bar towel for the last time and went to live with her brother John, a shoemaker trading on Watling Street in Wilnecote.

The Patchitt family were succeeded by the Hardings. William was born in Worcester but his wife Mary Ann originated from Twickenham. Their departure coincided with the purchase of the pub by William Henry Logan in October 1884. He bought the property from the Trustees of Sir Robert Peel's Estate. Based at the wine vaults that would later become Oliver's, William Logan was a wholesale dealer in foreign wines. An acquaintance of the 3rd Sir Robert Peel, he acted as a steward at the race meetings held at Drayton Manor. The sale of the Three Tuns was almost certainly part of the sale of the family estate when the third baronet was declared bankrupt.

Thomas Haynes was licensee for a brief spell before Joseph and Sarah Raybon took over the tenancy of the building. Tamworth born-and-bred, Joseph Raybon was a bricklayer by trade. The couple had previously lived behind the pub in New Street so Joseph was probably very familiar with life in front of the counter. Indeed, the Three Tuns was seemingly often taken over by former customers. Job Walton worked as a miller in Lichfield Street before moving into the pub with his wife Sarah. The couple later moved to the Red Lion further down the road on the corner of Peel Street.

Following the death of William Logan, the Three Tuns was sold in December 1900. The property had possibly been inherited by John Matthew and Elizabeth Mellor, the latter had been in charge of Logan's Vaults in the proprietor's later years. The Three Tuns was acquired at auction by the Aston-based Frederick Smith Ltd. for the sum of £2,075.0s.0d.

Frederick Smith started his own brewery when he was just 21. He was however part of a family rooted in the industry of beer production. His father, William Smith, was a master cooper before buying a beershop in Gosta Green. A successful publican, William was able to establish his own brewery in Aston. This was called The Model, the original brewery of this name. However, this was not the Model Brewery operated by son Frederick. When William Smith died in 1878 and, in order to provide for a widow and eight children, the business, including the Queen's Hotel, Brewery and Maltings, was sold off. Although the brewery was bought by the Atkinson brothers, two of William Smith's eldest sons, Thomas and Henry, were able to buy two of their father's pubs for themselves.

Frederick Smith was only 18 years old and took the experience he had gained working with his father and became an employee at Atkinson's. After two more years of valuable training and experience, he went independent on August 18th 1880 by acquiring the neighbouring Victoria Brewery. These premises were further down the Lichfield Road in Aston. Frederick Smith was a very astute businessman and he was able to expand the business. By 1888 he had purchased adjoining land and built a larger brewery to supply an increasing number of outlets. This was called the Aston Model Brewery. In 1892 he built a sixty-quarter malt house and three years later the business was registered as a limited company. Continued expansion included the acquisition of more public houses and an extension to the brewery. A bottling plant was added around 1898. To ensure continuity of the business, Frederick Smith sent his eldest son Frederick to study at the Brewing School of the University of Birmingham. Younger son Sydney meanwhile concentrated on looking after the brewery’s tied house estate. The brewery was significantly improved in 1922. In addition to new brewing plant, a fresh artesian well was sunk to increase the online volume of the noted Aston water. In 1927 King George V knighted Frederick Smith for his services to the communities of Aston and Birmingham.

The involvement of a large brewery was possibly the salvation for the Three Tuns. The local licensing justices had visited the dilapidated property several times because they were concerned about the state of the place. In fact, the licence was eventually refused but was later re-instated on appeal. The Aston brewery tidied up the property a little - but not too much! It would last for another generation. This brings us to the second photograph in the gallery above. The licensee at the time was William Cooper. He is probably the man stood outside the pub in a waistcoat. The man in the driving seat of the carriage is Edward J. Cole and stood in front of the carriage his daughter Mabel and her friend Hilda. Edward Cole was quite an entrepreneur and, in addition to running the Golden Cup Inn on Gungate Street, he owned an undertaking business and operated a carriage hire service. The photograph was undoubtedly a publicity stunt because Edward Cole couldn't drive!

At the time of the first photograph above, the pub was kept by Elizabeth Ward. She had succeeded her husband Oliver as licensee. He was one of the last publicans in Tamworth to work as a blacksmith.

After hanging on for more than thirty years, Frederick Smith Ltd. eventually relented to pressure from the licensing justices and agreed to rebuild the Three Tuns. The building is a classic example of a pub built in the 1930’s. The exterior’s crisp clean lines and understatement were exactly what the magistrates demanded of architects. The building was erected in the latter stages of pub reform - architectural sobriety was the order of the day. Compare this building, for example, with the frontage of the Globe Hotel in Gungate, a lavish terracotta palace erected almost forty years earlier.

Locals were astonished with the speed of construction. With demolition and building taking less than five months and with Joseph Tomson, manager of the old pub at the counter, the new Three Tuns opened at 10am on Wednesday December 15th 1937. John Harper has reported in the Tamworth Herald that "prior to formally declaring the new premises open, Mr Sydney Smith, a director of Frederick Smith Ltd, thanked the architect Mr.Holland W. Hobbis, of Birmingham, for the excellent design of the house and, bearing in mind that he had a very awkward site and restricted area, he thought the house was everything that could have been done on the small site to comply with the requirements of magistrates and local councils."

The name of Holland W. Hobbis can be found inscribed above the doors of some of Birmingham's classic pubs. He was the man responsible for the Ansell's-commissioned Cross Keys in Hurst Street, a fabulous art deco creation. A noted church builder, he also designed The Antelope at Sparkhill for Mitchell's and Butler's.

Frederick Smith Ltd. were acquired by Butler's of Wolverhampton in 1955 who, in turn, were bought by Mitchell's and Butler's in 1960. The property has been significantly altered over the last thirty years. In 1969 the toilets were completely changed. A new games room was added in 1994, along with an extension to the bar area. In the following year the lounge was extended and the toilets were changed once more.

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