The Dolphin Inn Woburn

5 to 7 Bedford Street May 2012

The Dolphin Inn: possibly 5 to 7 Bedford Street, Woburn

This inn is known only from licensees being mentioned in the register of dues owed to the Vicar of Woburn for premises in the parish [P118/3/1]. The inn was short lived, seemingly in operation from about 1785 to about 1796. From the position it occupies in the list and comparisons taken forward to the 1802 to 1828 parish dues book [P118/28/2] and Thomas Evans' survey of 1821-2 [R2/69] the inn seems to have occupied the modern 5 to 7 Bedford Street.

These premises were given listed building status by the former Ministry of Works in 1961. All three properties were described as 18th and 19th century, encasing earlier structures. They may well have been damaged by the fire of June 1724 which damaged thirty nine buildings in the town, which forced subsequent rebuilding. They are built in red brick mottled with flared headers and Number 6 “apparently encases some timber framing”. Number 5 has a slate roof, Number 6 a clay roof and Number 7 has a partly clay tiled, partly slated roof.

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

1785-1790: John Jefferies;
1791: Mrs.Jefferies;
1795: Edward Webb

Public House closed about 1796

List of Sources:

• P118/3/1: parochial dues: 1785-1796
• P118/28/2: parochial assessment book: 1802-1833;
• R1/78: Thomas Evans' map accompanying R2/69: 1821;
• R2/69: Detailed survey of Woburn made by Thomas Evans for the Duke of Bedford: 1822.