The Red Lion Public House Stanford

Old Inn Cottage March 2008

Red Lion Public House: Southill Road, Stanford

Old Inn Cottage was listed under the name Sunview by the former Department of Environment in May 1985. The department noted that it was formerly the Red Lion public house. It is built of pebbledash render over a timber frame and has a thatched roof. The ground floor originally had three rooms and the cottage comprises one storey and attics,
with a 19th century two storeyed block projecting from rear which was presumably built to assist with accommodation for the public house.

Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service has little information about this former public house because it was owned by Baldock brewers Simpson & Company and the deeds are at Hertfordshire Archive Service. It had a lengthy history as a Register of Licensed Premises of 1876 notes that it had been licensed for over a hundred years, the first trace in records held by Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service being in a Register of Alehouse Licences beginning in 1822.

The public house closed either during or just after the First World War. In 1927 Stanford was valued under the Rating Valuation Act 1925; every piece of land and building in the country was assessed to determine the rates to be paid on it. The valuer visiting the former Red Lion [DV1/C124/70] noted that it was owned and occupied by an E. Cooper. It comprised three living rooms and a kitchen downstairs with four bedrooms above. The valuer commented: "Lot of it, was a pub. Very Poor".

Sources:

• CRT110/102: deeds of Simpson's Brewery at Hertfordshire Record Office;
• CLP13: register of alehouse licences: 1822-1828;
• P69/11/2: parish rate book: 1835-1837;
• 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;
• HF143/6: Register of Alehouse Licences - Biggleswade Petty Sessional Division: 1900-1914;
• PSBW8/1: Register of Alehouse Licences - Biggleswade Petty Sessional Division: 1903-1915;
• DV1/C124/70: rating valuation: 1927

List of Licensees:

Note that this is not a complete list. Italics indicate licensees whose beginning and/or end dates are not known:
 
1822-1826: Thomas Arnold;
1826-1828: Elizabeth Arnold;
1869: Thomas Webb;
1872-1889: John Cook Webb;
1891-1899: Hannah Webb;
1899-1904: Walter William Webb;
1904-1909: Mabel Annie Webb;
1909-1911: Frederick Charles Webb;
1911-1914: William Edwards;
1914: Alfred Archibald Roberts
Public house closed between 1914 and 1920