The Five Awls Public House Eversholt

Bedfordshire Archive and Record Service has just one mention of the Five Awls. It is in the will of Thomas Smith dating from 1736 [NC794]. Smith devised to his wife Judith: “a cottage in Eversholt lately called the Six Bells, now called the Five Awls”. This raises the possibility that this is actually the beerhouse known in the 19th century as the Six Bells, simply reverting to its older name. However, this seems unlikely because the countywide ale house registers for 1822 to 1828 do not list a Six Bells in Eversholt. The use of the name Six Bells, however, does suggest that the pub was in Church End, close to the church, with its ring of six bells.