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THE Skinner's Arms
location unknown
There is just one known reference to the Skinner's Arms which was in 1853 when the landlord Thomas Fooks (not thought to be the glove manufacturer of the same name) was charged with selling beer "during Divine Service" and allowing spirits to be consumed on the premises. As well as total fines of £7 (around £650 at today's value) Fooks lost his license.
The fact that the spirits had to be fetched from the George Inn indicates two things about the Skinner's Arms; firstly that the Skinner's Arms didn't have a license to sell spirits and was therefore a beerhouse. Secondly although its location is unknown it must have been in, or close to, Middle Street.
Because Thomas Fooks lost his license and the the Skinner's Arms is not mentioned again as such, it is most likely that the Skinner's Arms was the un-named beerhouse recorded in the 1861 census directly across Middle Street from the George. At this time it was run by Thomas Haywood who was recorded in the census as a 'tailor and beerhouse keeper'. A photograph of the premises is shown in the Gallery.
Because of its
location in the
1861 census this
beerhouse
(marked 'A' on
the map and
arrowed in the
photograph
below) is one of
the very few
beerhouses whose
location can be
precisely
pinpointed - on
the eastern side
of the entrance
to
Dean's Court,
off Middle
Street, directly
opposite the
George Hotel and
two doors along
from the
Castle Hotel. At
about the same
time this
operated as a
beerhouse Dean's
Court, which was
essentially slum
housing for the
very poor,
became notorious
for the repeated
outbreaks of
typhoid fever
because all
eight properties
shared a common
privy so close
to the well
supplying
drinking water
for the Court
that the privy
actually drained
into the well.
Not nice.
Gallery
A report from the 10 May 1853 edition of the Western Flying Post describing the offence.
This rare
sepia-toned
photograph of
about 1875 looks
down Middle
Street and shows
the Castle Inn
at extreme left with
Thomas Haywood's
beerhouse
arrowed. The
original narrow
entrance to
Union Street is
seen right of
centre.
licensees
|
1853 |
Thomas
Fooks (see
above)
listed as
Skinner's
Arms |
|
1861 |
Thomas Haywood 'tailor & beerhouse keeper' (1861 census) beerhouse not named |
