The Brickmakers Arms Beerhouse Sandy

30 Brickhill Road in 1977 [Z50/99/13]

The Brickmakers Arms Beerhouse: 30 Brickhill Road, Sandy

30 Brickhill Road was listed by the former Department of Environment in February 1977 as Grade II, of special interest. The department dated the property to the 18th century. It is a two bay roughcast cottage with a clay tile roof and comprises one storey and attics. It was later extended later in brick with a concrete tile roof.

The earliest record of the Brickmakers Arms is a schedule of deeds [Z1039/34/1] which notes that W. Pope and his wife conveyed the property to the partners in the Biggleswade brewery firm of Wells and Company in 1837. The countywide register of alehouse licences of 1876, when the Brickmakers Arms was owned by Wells & Company states that the building was first licensed in 1830. As late as 1903 Brickhill Road was named Brick Kiln Road. The countywide register of alehouse licences of 1903 reveals that  the nearest licensed house was 542 yards away, that the state of repair of the Brickmakers Arms was good and that it had one front and two back doors.

Wells and Company was sold at auction in 1898 [GK1/36] and was bought, together with its licensed houses by Kent businessman George Winch for his son Edward Bluett Winch. The company was conveyed the following year to a new company called Wells and Winch Limited [Z1039/34/2a].

The Rating and Valuation Act 1925 specified that every building and piece of land in the country was to be assessed to determine its rateable value. Sandy, like most of the county, was assessed in 1927 and the valuer visiting the beerhouse [DV1/C147/5] found it owned by Wells and Winch and occupied by John T. Sawford who paid £20 per annum in rent

The property comprised a reception room, a kitchen and a taproom with three bedrooms above. Outside stood a w. c., a wood and tiled cart shed and barn, an old, dilapidated two stall stable and loft and a wood shed.

The valuer commented: “Old house, very bad position, on bad road, no trade”. This non-existent trade was actually fifteen gallons of beer per month. Takings were about £2/7/- per month. Kelly’s Directory for Bedfordshire includes John Sawford as a beer seller in its edition of 1931 but not in those of 1936 or 1940. No other beer seller is listed in those years and the Brickmakers is not listed by name, leading to the conclusion that the beerhouse closed between 1931 and 1936.

30 Brickhill Road was on the market in 2009 when the sale particulars [Z449/4/28] noted that it comprised the following accommodation:

• Ground floor: entrance hall; lounge measuring 14 feet 3 inches by 13 feet 11 inches; dining room measuring 14 feet 9 inches by 13 feet 11 inches; cellar measuring 10 feet by 9 feet (only 4 feet high); kitchen measuring 10 feet 10 inches by 9 feet 8 inches; rear entrance lobby; utility/boiler room; bathroom;
• First Floor: landing/sitting/study area measuring 11 feet 2 inches by 9 feet 9 inches; bedroom measuring 14 feet 9 inches by 14 feet 1 inch;
• Second Floor: bedrooms measuring 14 feet by 14 feet 8 inches and 10 feet 9 inches long.

A detached garage and workshop 31 feet long lay outside.

References:

• Z1039/34/1: schedule of deeds: 1837;
• HF143/1: Register of Alehouse Licences - Biggleswade Petty Sessional Division: 1872-1873;
• HF143/2: Register of Alehouse Licences - Biggleswade Petty Sessional Division: 1874-1877;
• HF143/3: Register of Alehouse Licences - Biggleswade Petty Sessional Division: 1878-1881;
• HF143/4: Register of Alehouse Licences - Biggleswade Petty Sessional Division: 1882-1890;
• HF143/5: Register of Alehouse Licences - Biggleswade Petty Sessional Division: 1891-1900;
• GK1/36: Wells and Company sale catalogue: 1898
• Z1039/34/2a: copy conveyance from Wells and Company to wells and Winch: 1899;
• HF143/6: Register of Alehouse Licences - Biggleswade Petty Sessional Division: 1900-1914;
• PSBW8/1: Register of Alehouse Licences - Biggleswade Petty Sessional Division: 1903-1915;
• Z449/4/28: sale particulars: 2009.

List of Licensees: note that this is not a complete list. Italics indicate licensees whose beginning and/or end dates are not known:

1869-1887: William Briggs;1887: Elizabeth Briggs;
1887: Samuel Clarke;
1891-1896: Jesse Mayes;
1896-1914: George Mayes;
1920: Albert J. Usher;
1924-1931: John T. Sawford.
Beerhouse closed between 1931 and 1936