The Compasses Public House, Ampthill
The Compasses: 92 Dunstable Street, Ampthill [also called Snowes Place/The Bell/The Three Compasses]
It is unclear whether this public house, at one time called the Bell, is the same Bell mentioned in the wills of Alexander Kirk of 1528 and Richard Hewett of 1559. It stood one door along Dunstable Street from the White Hart and was clearly an old property. The first mention certain mention of this property in any record held by Bedfordshire Archives is in 1633 when Edward Wyngate sold it to Francis and Richard Taverner at which time it is called the Bell "alias Snowes Place", the latter suggesting it had been previously owned or rented by someone named Snowe. Four years later the Taverners sold it to John Francklin who then sold it on to Henry and Richard Fowkes in 1649 at which time it is noted as abutting the messuage of John and Eme Honnor to the south
At this point the picture becomes somewhat confusing because in 1669 Eme Honnor, widow of John, leaves her house called the Bell to Thomas Arnold and Richard Fowkes as trustees instructed to sell it. Then three years later the Bell, then in occupation of Thomas Stoughton, was conveyed by William Boulstred to Richard Fowkes. Finally in 1734 The Three Compasses (formerly the Bell), still noted as abutting to south on the messuage formerly of John and Emes Honnor was sold by Thomas Day and Elizabeth his wife (only daughter of Edmund Fowkes who was son of Henry Fowkes) to John Findlay.
What does not make sense, on the surface, is the will of Eme Honnor [ref: ABP/W1668/167]. Without that one would assume that the Bell, later called the Three Compasses, had been in the Fowkes family from 1649 to 1734. Any reconstruction, given that we have no further contemporary documents, must be conjectural but three explanations seem likely: (a) at some time between 1649 and 1668 the original Bell closed and the Honnors opened an inn which they called the Bell; this closed, in its turn, some time after Eme's death and the inn moved back to its original location and was renamed the Three Compasses; (b) for a while there were two inns next door to one another and the name of the Bell moved from the original premises to that next door, kept by the Honnors, and the original Bell changed its name to the Three Compasses; (c) the deeds (which are all later copies of the originals) are incorrect and the Bell was always owned by the Honnors - this is perhaps the least likely explanation.
The inn remained in the Finlay family (latterly the Gales as Margaret Finlay married George Gale) from 1734 to 1803 when it was sold at auction at which time it was described as "That well known, old established and capital public house…situate in the centre of Ampthill" it had a dining room, two parlours, six bedrooms, a kitchen, a large brewhouse and cellar, stabling for forty horses and barns. The advertisement noted that the proprietor had recently taken the Navigation Inn, Fenny Stratford [Buckinghamshire], causing the sale.
The next mention of the public house is in an inventory of John and Joseph Morris of 1827 [ref: Z1043/1], which suggests that the inn might have been purchased by the Morris family in 1803. The property stayed with Morris & Company until 1920 when it was demolished and the site used for the new bank buildings. two 15th century carved beams saved from the demolition were presented to Luton Museum in 1932 and the reconstructed gateway to the inn was set up at 110 Dunstable Street [ref: Z50/1/8].
List of Licensees: note that this is not a complete list. Italics indicate licensees whose beginning and/or end dates are not known:
- 1528: Alexander Kirk
- 1559: Robert Hewett
- 1632: Ralph Saye
- 1671: Thomas Stoughton
- before 1734: Henry Bowstred
- 1734: John Emmerton;
- 1740: George Gale;
- 1822 - 1831: John Brightman
- 1839-1854: John Gascoin
- 1861-1862: Harriet Gascoin
- 1864-1877: William Abbis
- 1882-1885: Fanny Abbis
- 1885-1894: Charles Billington
- 1894-1898: George Lowe
- 1898-1909: William Hugh King
- 1909-1911: Arthur Massey
Public House closed 17 Jan 1911.
List of sources at Bedfordshire Archives:
- WE494: Building "known by the sign of the Bell formerly called Snowes Place" conveyed by Edward Wyngate to Francis and Richard Taverner, 1633
- WE495: Conveyed by Francis and Richard Taverner and Edward Wingate to John Francklin: 1637
- WE496: Conveyed by John Francklin to Henry and Richard Fowkes: 1649
- ABP/W1668/167: Probate of will of Eme Honnor, widow devising her messuage known by the sign of the Bell to Thomas Arnold and Richard Fowkes in trust for sale: 1668
- HSA1670 & W35-36: Man in fight taken to Bell, presumably for treatment: 1670
- L16/12: Conveyed from William Boustred to Richard Fowkes 1671
- WE497: Conveyance from Thomas Day to John Findlay of Three Compasses, formerly Bell with house: 1734
- WE498: Three Compasses mortgaged by John Findlay to Francis Jessopp: 1740
- ABP/W1747-8/71, WE499 and HT1/18/6a: Three Compasses devised in will of John Finlay to his son William or, if he would not pay off the mortgage on it, to William's sister Margaret, wife of George Gale: 1747
- WE500: Mortgage of Three Compasses assigned to Thomas Wyles: 1748
- WJ3: Right of way through yard mentioned in deed: 1779
- ABP/W1793/29: Will of Thomas Gale devising Three Compasses to, 1793
- Northamptonshire Mercury: Sale: 16 Mar 1803
- Z1043/1: Listed in inventory of John and Joseph Morris: 1827
- WB/M/4/1/VP1: Morris family mortgage: 1831
- SF1/334/1: Inventory of public house: 1894
- CCE5304/1: Conveyed, with others, to Morris & Co (Ampthill) Limited: 1907
- Z50/1/8: Photograph of reconstructed gateway now at 110 Dunstable Street [public house demolished 1920]: C20
- JN11: Receipt of Luton Museum for two C15th carved oak beams: 1932
- AU10/25/1: Story of how William Hugh King became tenant in 1898: 1973
- AU10/65/1: Letter about Abbis family, former licensees: 1998
- AU10/65/3: Letter about Abbis family: 1998