Public Houses were so called as they began life as drinking establishments set up in people’s homes to which the public came. One such alehouse was set up in a cottage at Tort Hill just along from Church Causeway and still carries the name today. These establishments were frequented by many a parched agricultural worker after a long day in the fields. In the 17th and 18th centuries and before that, most of the beer consumed in Sawtry was also made here. Today a street just off Fen Lane named The Maltings is directly sited upon a street named Malt Kiln Square where a malting house or kiln once stood. There is a photograph of Fen Lane showing part of Malt Kiln Square on the "In Focus" page, link below .  A malting house is a building much like a mill but not tall, more spread out, where barley is raked out and then roasted to make malt which is used in the beer (and whiskey) making process. There was a Malting House at Sawtry Abbey. Beer was consumed as the drink of choice as water in past times was not always pure. Most water came from wells which were fed by springs and streams and could become contaminated unless it was a pure underground stream.
In 1790 there were at least two Public Houses in Sawtry. The Cross Keys which stood on the corner of Gidding Road and Green End Road and the Black Horse Inn, a coaching inn, which later became Black Horse Farm. It stood on Ermine Street, the Great North Road, in the parish of Sawtry Judith.  The Bell on Green End Road dates back to about 1800 and was probably a Public House although I couldn't find any records to confirm that until 1851. It is believed that one landlord of The Bell was also a carpenter by trade and so it once served as the village's funeral parlour in the outbuildings at the back of the pub. Legend has it that it is haunted so maybe that is where those stories originated.  Isaac Wheatley the landlord of the Bell in 1851 was also a baker, a beef retailer and parish clerk, a busy man.












The Durham Ox which stood on the corner of St Judith's Lane and Green End Road, dates back to 1841 run by the Scotney family. William Scotney, the patriarch of the Scotney family, ran the pub until his death when his son John Scotney took over the running of The Durham Ox. Then his son, Charles Scotney, a farmer, became a publican and also ran his Dairy Farm on Green End Road. The Durham Ox later became known as The Bull. The Scotney family continued to run The Bull and in 1940 Charles son Jack Scotney was a fourth generation Scotney publican. Most of the publicans, innkeepers or licensed victuallers, as they were also known, had other jobs as well as being a publican. Some were butchers, bakers, farmers or cattle merchants. The Cross Keys stood for many years in the centre of the village where Greenways now is, until it was demolished in 1973 along with a row of shops that stood next to it, one being Huntings Butchers Shop and in 1790 The Cross Keys had a landlady named Mrs Lovell, who apparently used to run musical evenings with a pianist in the pub.












The Chequers Inn on the High Street opposite the Green dates back to the early 1800s and continued into the late 1960's as it was well frequented due to its prominence in the centre of the village. There are many photos in the Sawtry History Society Archive of activities on the Green, with villagers having a good time during the Feast week in Sawtry when the Fair was on the Green and of Fox Hunting meets in the early 1900s where the landlord of the Chequers would bring out the stirrup cup to where the horses were gathered on the Green, a drink consumed by the hunting party before setting off as it was customary for the Master of the Hunt to be given the first stirrup cup. When the VE Day celebrations commenced in May 1945, street parties were held for the children of the village and one was out in front of The Chequers Pub, another was at the Church Schoolroom on  Church Street. In the early 1970's, however,  the Chequers closed and became a private dwelling.
 
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The Oddfellows Arms on Church Street dates back to about 1856 when Thomas Baxter was Publican. George Chapman was publican between 1891 and 1901. He was the grandfather of Harry Chapman who owned the garage on the Great North Road in the 1940s and early 1950's. George Chapman's great grandaughter, Jean Chapman and her (2nd) husband (she was a widow) Bob Duncan owned Duncans Coaches. The name originates from the Oddfellows Friendly Society, an organisation (now a registered charity) set up to help the less fortunate of the village where locals would meet to organise ways to raise money. In the 1800’s the National arm of the Oddfellows Society would sponsor local pubs to help them set up to have a meeting place in villages around the country to help communities. You will come across many public houses in the country with this name. Another organisation that used to raise money for the hospitals and people who fell on hard times in the village was the Royal Antelluvian Order of Buffaloes known as The Buffs in the village. Before that there was The Burlington Society. After the First World War the Royal British Legion was set up by Earl Haig with the poppy as its symbol as a charity to raise money for the soldiers and their families who were killed and wounded in wartime. Through the years these organisations would march in the Feast Sunday Parade and collect money from onlookers on the parade route. After the parade was over the Brass Band would play on the Green and then everyone would adjourn to The Chequers Pub.  The Oddfellows Arms became a residential dwelling after Frank Warren the last landlord passed away. Warren Croft, the street off Church Street was named after this well known publican in the village. Several other public houses in the surrounding area that we know date back to the late 1600’s and 1700's are the Bell Inn and the Angel, both old coaching inns in Stilton. The Bell Inn at Stilton was well known for serving Stilton Cheese. The cheese was made by the publican's brother in Melton Mowbray but gained the name after travellers staying at the Inn, sampled the beloved cheese. The Bell Inn at Stilton is also mentioned by Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe, when he stopped there many times whilst writing his book Travels around Britain. There is also the old Crown and Woolpack in Glatton and the Addison Arms which stood opposite to each other on Glatton Road. The Crown and Woolpack was a thatched establishment and sadly burnt down in the mid 1800's when a spark from a passing steam engine on its way to a farm for harvest, flew into the thatched roof. The Addison Arms dates back to the 17th Century and has Dutch origins when many Dutch people settled in Glatton. You will find old photos of these on the "In Focus" page which has a link below. The Woolpack on the Great North Road near Conington Turn, was also called The Crown and Woolpack however everyone in the local community always called it The Woolpack. It was a well known coaching inn in the 1700's and was renowned as a stopping off point for the highwayman Dick Turpin, as he travelled from London to York, robbing coaches up and down the country. He was finally caught in York and his cell can be seen in the Castle Museum in York which was once the city's jail. It is here at the Woolpack that he is said to have turned the shoes on his horse's hooves the other way around to try and fool the authorities in to thinking he was going in the other direction. The name The Woolpack which was a popular name for a pub in the 1700's refers to a bale of wool which served in recognition of the fact that so much of Britain's wealth was made by the sale of sheep's wool, however the name the Crown and Woolpack refers to a specific bale of wool which is covered in red cloth and is in the House of Lords, the seat of the Lord Chancellor and also that fact that in those times The Lord Chancellor held the Privy Purse on behalf of the Crown so was also in charge of  Britain’s wealth. When the Crown and State were separated after the reign of Charles 1st and the English Civil War, the Lord Chancellor became head of the Judicary and ran the Justice department,  the cabinet post of Chancellor was created to run the Treasury. The Royal Oak that sat opposite The Black Horse Inn on the Great North Road, was built in 1796 by a man named William Dolby. The Dolbys were a family of Thatchers in Sawtry although William’s older brother Thomas Dolby made a name for himself as the owner of a satirical printing establishment in Wardour Street in London what we know today as Soho. William Dolby was killed when he was thrown from his horse during a severe thunderstorm near Alconbury Weston around 1840.














 





In 1980 a house that stood on the Green then known as Chesham House was bought by Pearl and Frank Rook and was turned into Greystones, the public house that we know today. Chesham House was once owned by Baron Lord Chesham, a nephew of the Duke of Devonshire who inherited the land in Sawtry and the surrounding area upon the death of his uncle the Duke. It is believed that Chesham House was built from stone from the ruins of Sawtry Abbey. The last place to be built in Sawtry where drinks are served was the Ex Servicemen's Club. Built as a community establishment in the early 1960's it was an updated version of The Hut that was there previously and was built around 1919 -1920 as a community hall at the end of the first world war on land donated to the village by farmer and landowner Benjamin Irish to commemorate the fallen of Sawtry in World War 1, the Ex Servicemen’s Club serves as the same to honour the fallen of all wars and as a club for all veterans and serving members of the forces and the general public.
In 1901 there were six public houses in the village and about 900 inhabitants and in 2011 with a population of 6,536 there were two pubs and the Ex Servicemen's Club.
There are many interesting items about The Public Houses in Sawtry and the surrounding area in Sawtry History Society's Archive including correspondence found by a builder when renovating a house in Manchester to the family that were living in the Crown and Woolpack at Glatton. The Archive is open on the third saturday morning of the month (the saturday following the Thursday meeting). All welcome. The " In Focus" page has photos and information about Sawtry Public Houses.

More Old Photos and Information on Sawtry Pubs 
Photographs Copyright Sawtry History and Sawtry History Society