Newmarket Local History Society
A corroboration of research by members of the Society into the
history of the pubs, clubs and hotels of Newmarket
When Saint Peter sees him coming,
He will leave the Gates ajar;
For He knows he's had his Hell on earth,
Has the man behind the bar
Tony Pringle, Peter Norman and David Rippington, having spent much time, over many years, researching the old pubs of Newmarket, gathering information from other members such as Les Jewel, Joan Shaw and Mary Basham, decided it was time to bring all the data together in one place. This is it.... The exact status of each establishment is not always known, some may have been public houses as we know them or mere beerhouses, some "real hotels", some glorified lodging houses or indeed off licences. The history of most clubs is usually quite vague, their records being very much harder to find. It has not been possible to ascertain the dates of licence changes, the entries showing dates and licensees' name in most cases can only show there is a public reference to that person at those premises at the time. One insurmountable omission is the lack of census information for the St Mary's side of town in 1851. Somewhere in the mists of time this was lost or destroyed. All Saints side record did survive, but there was little that side of town at that time. Two other factors must delay completion of this task A..The Newmarket Journal archived copies are not on line, and there are 133 years worth of hard copy to read ! B..Since much of the time Newmarket was included in Cambridgeshire for records, it is to that County Records Office we must turn BUT that office is currently (November 2019) closed due to its removal to Ely, thus ruling out visits until early 2020. Being of the "belt and braces brigade", a book will also be compiled so that there is a hard copy of at least one stage of the project. Hopefully credit can be given for the images presented here, but as the photographs were collected by several persons, over very many years, the provenance of many is completely unknown. Even amongst ourselves, it cannot always be said for sure whether a photograph was given to Tony by Peter, or vice versa (and even then the origin was probably unrecorded). Many indeed may be found on other websites, but were acquired by those mentioned above before websites had been invented. However our thanks go to the Newmarket Journal and the Old Newmarket website for their assistance at all times. Luckily most of our images were shot before 1957 and so should be out of copyright, but we do try to add a courtesy "thank you" where we do know the donor.
such as extra information, corrections and any possible copyright queries in order that we can quickly resolve matters WARNING All possible sources of information have been explored, but directories are not always the most accurate. It can be found at times that a directory places a publican in a pub for several years after his death. The census, 1939 register and licensing records and registers are better trusted sources. |
Above is a map taken from Peter May's book "Newmarket Medieval and Tudor" with his impression of how Newmarket would have looked in 1472. The key is here.
Most information from the distant past has been found from Peter May's series of books on Newmarket
# | tenants/owners | # | tenant/owners |
---|---|---|---|
1 | John Balow aka Bladesmith, Ralph Balow | 31 | William, Thomas & Henry Cheveley |
2 | William Buntyng | 32 | Nicholas Bocher, William Jourdon |
3 | Thomas Helbye | 33 | Henry Cheveley |
4 | Ralph Balow | 34 | John Leycestre |
5 | John Wykes | 35 | Ralph Cooke |
6 | THE SHIP William Nameskyll | 36 | Roger Holyngworth |
7 | THE BEAR Thomas Depden | 37 | Richard Deresley |
8 | John Pere, Richard Gateward, John Laste | 38 | THE SWAN John Kyrkeby, Roger Holyngworth |
9 | William Aylenoth | 39 | THE GRIFFIN Willam Baron, Arthur Greysson, Leonard Beale, Richard Hamerton |
10 | William Palgrave, John Cracke | 40 | THE BULL Richard Motte, Arthur Greysson |
11 | John Ray, Ralph Hancocks, Thomas Percyvale | 41 | Ralph Lote |
12 | John Ray, Ralph Lote | 42 | SARACEN'S HEAD William Farwell, Roger Mayner, Arthur Greysson |
13 | Ralph & Richard Gateward, Ralph Lote | 43 | Vicar of Wickhambrook, Thomas Depden |
14 | John Leiston, Roger Holyngworth | 44 | John Ickelyngham, John Wyles |
15 | MAIDENHEAD John Archer, Henry Dale | 45 | The Dundich (Watercourse) |
16 | William Mey, Christopher Roughe | 46 | BULLSYARD John Wykes |
17 | THE SWORD John Higham, Arthur Greysson, John & David Ayers | 47 | Thomas Quylter, Ellis Jordon |
18 | THE POUND John Higham, Richard Gatweward, John Bonde | 48 | John Kydde |
19 | THE CHRISTOPHER John Wright | 49 | Ralph Lote |
20 | THE BELL Henry Dale | 50 | Ralph Lote, John Cracke, Roger Holyngworth |
21 | John Upryght, John Yeresley | 51 | THE FANFAIR Simon Funston |
22 | John Upryght, John Yeresley | 52 | Ralph Lote, John Kevin |
23 | Thomas Depden | 53 | Ralph Lote, John Grygge |
24 | Katherine Poperyk | 54 | Ralph Lote, Henry Dale |
25 | John Wykes | 55 | THE FANFAIR WAY Simon Funston |
26 | John Bede | 56 | BULLSYARD |
27 | Thomas Pateryk | 57 | THE FAIRWAY Richard Motte, Arthur Greysson |
28 | THE RAM John Withall | 58 | SHRAGGERY ROW |
29 | THE HART John Redere, Prior of Fordham | 59 | FAIRSTEAD, or St Mary's Square |
30 | Walter Bocher, Henry Cheveley | ||
Since the whole area has been completely redeveloped, below is a 1903 map of the Rookery
which hopefully can be updated when we find better maps detailing the various lanes
This aerial photo taken in the early 1920's shows several pubs/hotels
some of which had ceased to trade. For reference, the 2 green crosses were the trees either side of the gate to Albion Lodge
and were originally still in place when the Market Square was opened, exactly halfway along the car park square, opposite
Autozone