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bell inn (3)
207 Preston Road
The
Bell Inn was
first named as
such in Kelly's
Directory
of 1842 and at
this time
Preston
Plucknett was
just outside the
Yeovil borough
boundary.
The Bell Inn was possibly preceded by a beerhouse known as the Jolly Sailor Inn of the 1830s.
The first Bell Inn, shown surrounded by orchards and coloured pink on the map at left, was L-shaped when seen from the road. It was built of stone and had petrol pumps in the front (see photo below). The entrance to the 'jug and bottle', for sales to be taken off the premises, was at the rear of the building.
The Bell Inn was demolished for road widening in the late 1930's and the new building was built by N&C Partridge Ltd, of North Lane, to serve Preston Plucknett which, by this time, had become part of the Borough of Yeovil. It is now a large red brick building with stone mullioned windows under a grey slate roof with dormers. The internal layout has changed several times and the building has been extensively enlarged at the rear.
During the Second World War the Bell Inn was earmarked as a Civil Defence Reinforcements Rendezvous Centre.
In 1950 the skittle alley of the Bell was earmarked by the Corporation for use as a 'care of the homeless' furniture store in the case of a civil emergency - that is, the outbreak of another war.
The Bell was sold by Bass Charrington to the Hungry Horse Co Ltd in 1999. In January 2013 the Bell was burnt almost to the ground as seen in the photographs below. The following is from the Western Gazette of 24 January 2013.
|
Cause
of
Hungry
Horse
fire
could
remain a
mystery |
The Bell was rebuilt during 2013 and re-opened just in time for Christmas. See photos below.
The first recorded licensee was Joseph Drewer who was born about 1806. In the 1841 census he is recorded as a 35-year old innkeeper with his wife, Benedicta née Dean, their two children and Benedicta's mother, also called Benedicta. Joseph was also listed in Kelly's Directory of 1842 and Hunt's 1850 Directory but I couldn't locate him or Benedicta in any further records.
The next licensee was John Rodberd, born in Preston Plucknett about 1826, the son of master blacksmith William Rodberd and his wife, Maria. In the 1841 census 15-year old John's occupation was given as blacksmith apprentice and he, his parents and siblings lived next door to the Bell Inn, so I'm guessing there was a forge there where both John and his father worked. In the 1851 census 25-year old John was listed as a smith and victualler, living in the Bell Inn with his sister Emma as housekeeper, next door to his parents and siblings. During the next ten years John married and moved to Melcombe Regis, Weymouth, Dorset and the 1861 census listed him as the inn keeper of the Half Moon Inn in Melcombe Regis, with his wife Jane and their daughter, Tabitha. John and Jane spent the rest of their lives in Melcombe Regis where John remained a publican and he and Jane had at least another five children.
Daniel Maynes was born around 1820 in Ireland and was listed as the Bell's inn keeper in the 1861 census (although the pub was not named) with his Yeovil-born wife, Sarah, his nephew James Butts as a servant and his mother, Mary, visiting from Ireland. They were not found in any later records.
John Martin was born in Trent, just northeast of Yeovil, about 1814 but there were too many people called John Martin in and around Yeovil at the time to be able to trace much detail. In fact all that is known for certain is from the 1871 census in which he is listed as the Bell Inn's inn keeper with his wife, Ann, who was born in Axminster, Devon.
In 1881 it would appear that the Bell Inn was not operating. Having trawled through the whole of the census for Preston Plucknett, the Bell is not mentioned and neither is anyone in the parish employed as an innkeeper, beer seller, licensed victualler, etc. In fact the only person coming close was a 79-year old widow listed as a grocer and living in a 'cottage' in Preston Street. The next listed licensee was Ernest Guy who appears in the 1891 census as the manager. It is likely therefore that the original Bell Inn building was demolished in the 1880's and replaced by the present building by the brewery.
Reginald Ernest Guy, known as Ernest, (see Gallery) was born in Dorset and was only 19 years old when he was the Bell Inn's manager for a year or two in the very early 1890s. The pub, as well as the smithy next door were then licensed to his father Thomas Guy (1839-1899) who, along with his wife Harriet Fannie née Short (1843-1903) also run a grocery and draper's store in Orchard House, Huish, now Montague’s.
There is no further information on the next licensee, John Cartridge.
William Albert Dade was born in Yeovil in April 1858, the son of leather dresser William Dade and his wife, glove pointer Keziah, née Culliford. In the 1861 census William, Kesiah and their six children (of whom William was the youngest) were living in Rotten Row (today's Market Street). By 1871 the family had moved to Queen Street; William was still employed as a leather dresser but Keziah was listed as a shopkeeper and 12-year old William was employed as an errand boy. By 1881 William was a journeyman tailor, living on Reckleford with his new wife, Emily Jane, and baby daughter, Emily. Emily died in June 1887 and William remarried in January 1889. The 1891 census lists him as a tailor living at 3 Wyndham Street with his second wife, Annie, ten-year old daughter Emily (from his first marriage) and baby Gertrude. In 1895 Kelly's Directory listed William as a tailor and beer retailer at the Market Street Inn but by the following year, 1896, he had moved to the Nelson Inn in Eastland Road. The 1901 census lists William as a tailor and innkeeper, living with Annie and four daughters; Emily, Elsie, Lilian and Audrey (baby Gertrude had died in 1891 aged just 9 months). Some time during the following ten years William became the licensee of the Bell Inn and the 1911 census lists him as the innkeeper with Annie assisting in the business, with Elsie, Lilian and Audrey still at home. William died in June 1926.
Many thanks to Mike Bolton for finding three photos of the original Bell Inn on this site shown below and Mrs Barbara Harper, née Hallett, daughter of the 1920's-30's landlord Alfred Hallett, for her permission to reproduce them here.
|
Yeovilians remember.... Thanks to Mike Bolton for his observations on 1920's and 1930's landlord, Alfred Hallett as follows - "Mr Hallett was a real entrepreneur and dabbled in a lot of business ventures both in Yeovil and Cullompton and elsewhere, with connections in Poole. He not only was the innkeeper, but also the garage man, car hire merchant, gun owner. and erstwhile tooth-puller for the locals! The new Bell wasn't built until after Mr Hallett and his family left in the mid-thirties. I remember the Bell being a squaddies' pub for soldiers from Houndstone walking into Yeovil." |
gallery
Courtesy of
Jo-Ann Banner
Reginald Ernest Guy, known as Ernest, was only 19 years old when he was the Bell Inn's manager for a year or two in the very early 1890s.
From my
collection.
This
photograph
features in my
book "Lost Yeovil"
The old Bell Inn, in a colourised photograph of around 1920. At far right are seen two thatched cottages; the first was at one time the village post office but was later the home of the Beale family. The other cottage was occupied by the Saunders family. Both the Bell Inn and the cottages were demolished for road widening. At the side of the cottages was a stream - Dodham Brook - that runs from the top of Larkhill and eventually flows into the River Yeo.
Photograph (colourised)
courtesy of Mrs
Barbara Harper
The petrol pumps at the front of the first Bell Inn on this site. Just visible at top right is the inn sign (which, apparently, squeaked loudly when it was windy) on the stone-built L-shaped building.
Courtesy of Mrs
Barbara Harper
This photograph, taken during the late 1920's or early 1930's, shows the stone built L-shaped Bell Inn. The inn sign is just visible at top right and, below the lamp, a 'Car for Hire' sign. The photograph is, presumably, the car for hire being enjoyed.
Courtesy of Mrs
Barbara Harper
Alfred John Hallett, landlord of the Bell Inn from at least 1919 until the mid-1930's, seen here with his dog at the back of the Bell where he garaged his vehicles and had a small forge/workshop.
Courtesy of
Russell Jackson
Regulars of the Bell Inn, during tenancy of Arthur Paull, between 1936 and 1947, gather for a group photograph before setting off on a day outing.
The Bell Inn photographed during the 1960's.
Courtesy of
Chris Rendell
The Bell Inn photographed in 1989.
Now simply known as the Bell, photographed in 2009 the only real difference is the two-storey extension at left and the tacky street signage.
Fire crews attend the Bell in the small hours of 6 January 2013. (Photo - Western Gazette)
Courtesy of
Vivien and
John
Cornelius
Oh dear.... the ashes of the Bell, January 2013.
Seen after the disastrous fire of 6 January 2013, there's not a lot left of the Bell. It will hopefully be rebuilt soon.
Looks like its going to be a long job.
There - all better in January 2014. You'd hardly notice the difference (apart from the out-of-keeping brilliant white entrance doors).
Licensees
1841 – Joseph
Drewer – Inn
Keeper (1841
census) pub not
named but in
Preston
Plucknett
1842 – Joseph
Drewer (Kelly's
1842 Directory)
listed as Bell,
Preston
1850 – Joseph
Drewer (Hunt's
1850 Directory -
Inns & Public
Houses) listed
as Bell, Preston
1851 – John
Rodberd – Smith
and Victualler
(1851 census)
listed as Bell
Inn
1852 – John
Rodberd – Inn
Keeper (Slater’s
1852 Directory)
listed as the
Bell, Preston
1859 – John
Rodberd
(Harrison,
Hodder & Co 1859
Directory)
1861 – Walker
(Kelly's 1861
Directory)
1861 – Daniel
Maynes – Inn
Keeper (1861
census) pub not
named
1866 – Thomas
Purchase - Bell
Inn & Mason
(Kelly's 1866
Directory)
1871 – John
Martin – Inn
Keeper (1871
census) listed
as Preston Bell
Inn
1875 – Mrs
Tabitha Curtis
(Kelly's 1875
Directory)
1883 – Mrs Jane
Rodberd (Kelly's
1883 Directory)
1889 – William
Treasure (Kelly's
1889 Directory)
1891 – William
Treasure –
license transfer
(County Petty
Sessions, April)
1891 – Ernest
Guy –
license
transferred
(County Petty
Sessions, April)
1891 – Ernest
Guy – Manager
(1891 census)
listed as the
Bell Inn
1894 – Thomas
Guy – Bell Inn &
Blacksmith
(Kelly's 1894
Directory)
1898 – Licensee
not named (1898
Yeovil
Directory)
listed as Bell
Inn, Preston
Road
1901 – John
Cartridge –
Landlord (1901
census) listed
as Bell Inn,
Preston
1902 – John
Cartridge –
(Kelly's 1902
Directory)
1906 – William
Albert Dade –
Bell Inn &
Tailor (Kelly's
1906 Directory)
1910 – William
Albert Dade –
Bell Inn &
Tailor (Kelly's
1910 Directory)
1911 – William
Albert Dade –
Innkeeper (1911
census) listed
as the Bell Inn,
Preston
Plucknett
1914 – William
Albert Dade
(Kelly's 1914
Directory)
1919 – Alfred
John Hallett
(Kelly's 1919
Directory)
1923 – Alfred
John Hallett
(Kelly's 1923
Directory)
1927 – Alfred
John Hallett
(Kelly's 1927
Directory)
1935 – Arthur
James Paull
(Kelly's 1935
Directory)
1936 – AJ Paull
(1936 Yeovil
Directory)
listed as Bell
Inn
1938 – AJ Paull
(1938 Yeovil
Directory)
listed as Bell
Inn
1947 – AJ Paull
(1947 Yeovil
Directory)
listed as Bell
Inn
1949 – EJ Jeans
(Kelly’s 1949
Directory)
listed as Bell
Inn
1951 – EJ Jeans
(1951 Yeovil
Directory)
listed as Bell
Inn
1954 – EJ Jeans
(1954 Yeovil
Directory)
listed as Bell
Inn
1957 – EJ Jeans
(1957 Yeovil
Directory)
listed as Bell
Inn
1964 – Edwin J
Jeans (Foord's
1964 Directory)
listed as 207
Preston Road
1965 – Licensee
not named (1965
Yeovil
Directory)
listed as Bell
Inn
1968 – Licensee
not named
(Kelly’s 1968
Directory)
listed as Bell
Inn
1969 – Licensee
not named
(Kelly’s 1969
Directory)
listed as Bell
Inn
1970 – Licensee
not named
(Kelly’s 1970
Directory)
listed as Bell
Inn
1971 – Licensee
not named
(Kelly’s 1971
Directory)
listed as Bell
Inn
1972 – Licensee
not named
(Kelly’s 1972
Directory)
listed as Bell
Inn
1973 – Licensee
not named
(Kelly’s 1973
Directory)
listed as Bell
Inn
1974 – Licensee
not named (1974
Yeovil
Directory)
listed as Bell
Inn
1980s – Frank
& Jackie Wakeling -
Licensees until
March 1985.
1987 – Licensee
not named
(Denton’s 1987
Directory)
listed as Bell
Inn
