The Crown Beerhouse, Little Staughton

This page was partly written by Brenda Foster and Jeanette Atkinson 

The Crown c.1925 [WL800/2]

The Crown Beerhouse, Green End, Little Staughton

The current building known as The Crown is the only remaining Public House in Little Staughton. It was built after the original building, the thatched property shown above, burnt down following a chimney fire in 1973. 

The Crown seems to have been first licensed as a beerhouse in 1869, at which time it was occupied by Spencer Minney. According to the 1871 Census, Minney was a shoemaker as well as a beer retailer. The 1876 County Licensing Register notes that at that time the beerhouse was owned by T.H. Murfin of Great Staughton [CLP19/1].  

An 1898 catalogue for the sale of the Robin Hood Brewery in Great Staughton shows that at this time the Crown was part of a holding of 25 freehold properties and was tenanted by J. Robins for £5 a year [CRT130/STA/9]. The beerhouse with its outbuildings, garden/meadow and land was sold at auction. 

In 1927 all properties in Little Staughton were valued under the Rating and Valuations Act of 1925. The surveyor noted that the Crown was an old plaster and thatched building with a low pitch rood. Set back from the road, it was accessed by a private lane and described as 'absolutely unique'. It consisted of a tap room, living room and kitchen with a barn, pigstIes and henhouse to the rear. The building had a rateable value of £7 per annum but sold only about two pints of beer each week plus 5 shillings of tobacco. How times have changed. 

The Crown eventually ended up in the portfolio of the Wells and Winch Brewery, later the Charles Wells Brewery, who built the new pub after the 1973 fire. It was sold as a freehouse in the 1990s. 

The Crown, 2017 (Copyright Brenda Foster)

Licensees: note that this is not a complete list and that dates in italics are not necessarily beginning or end dates, merely the first/last date which can be confirmed from sources such as directories and deeds.

1869-1885: Spencer Minney; 

1891: Eliza Minney;

1898-1903: Joseph Robins; 

1917: George Robins

1917-1936: Charles Robins; 

1964-1970: Florence Leach Guy-Hale;

1970-1989: Michael John Adams; [rebuilt 1973]

1989: Christine Mary Adams;

1989-1992: Kenneth Charles Pollard;

1992: Colin Verdun Sarll;

1992-1994: Derel Alfred Fitzgibbon;

1994-1996: Alan Hall.