HISTORY OF THE BLACK BULL INN AND ITS LANDLORDS

Photo from 1900s

 

Extract from 'Penwortham in the Past' by Alan Crosby published April 1988

"There was a small group of cottages with a smithy and a beerhouse, now the Black Bull, at Pope Lane End. The name Pope Lane is derived from the Pope family who held land in this part of the township during the 17th century.

The Black Bull had a small private brewery in the 1700s and 1800s and, indeed, is marked as a brewery and not as a beerhouse on the tithe map. The grain for brewing was grown locally and was malted in the kiln at Malt Kiln Farm to the north, on the other side of Pope Lane."

Many thanks to Alan Crosby and Carnegie Press

 

Extract from 'Penwortham, Hutton & Longton in Focus' by Bob Dobson

The Black Bull Inn on Pope Lane appears on the 1840 tithe map of Penwortham as a brewery, with a smithy next door.

When this photograph was taken in the early 1900s, Thomas Riley and his wife Alice were the innkeepers.

The area was then quite rural and underdeveloped.

Even in 1932 the pub was known as The Black Bull Beerhouse!

Many thanks to Bob Dobson and Landy Publishing for permission to reproduce this photograph and text from Catherine Rees’ 2004 publication ‘Penwortham, Hutton & Longton in Focus’.

 

Extract from 'More Hidden Histories of Penwortham Houses' by Elizabeth Basquill published 2011

"I have not traced the Black Bull's history any further back than 1838 where it is clearly marked on the tithe map, alongside the terrace map, alongside the terrace of cottages known as Brown's Row. The land it stood on was owned by Roger Brown, who also built the cottages, but the occupant was Nicholas Knowles, who ran the brewery, and had a shippon, fold, garden and three fields, so he was also a farmer, though on a small scale.

The same map of 1893 has the letter BH next to the Black Bull: showing that the inn was a beer house rather than a public house, licensed to sell only beer but not spirits.

The inn has had many brewers and publicans through its long history: this book cannot cover all of them, but one in particular has left quite a trail of records behind in the census returns and shows how interlinked the lives of Penwortham people were in the 19th and early 20th century. His name was William Ashton and he appears in the 1891 census aged 36, as 'farmer and beer house keeper' at the Black Bull Inn. His wife, Ann, is 32 and assists in the beer house. They have 6 children, the eldest, John, is already working full time on the farm at the tender age of 12! Alice, Nancy, Annie and Grace are all at school and little William is a baby of 3 months.

William and Ann married at St Mary's Parish Church, Penwortham on 22nd January 1878, when William was 23 years old and his bride 20 [Penwortham Parish Records online]. Ann was the daughter of Thomas and Alice Wilson who lived in a house at Pope Lane End, virtually next door to the Black Bull. They were provision dealers - shopkeepers we would call them now, dealing in fruit and other foodstuffs. Ten years earlier they had been living on Charnock Moss where Alice was a handloom weaver of cotton and Thomas a 'Black Pudding Maker'! [1861 census online]"

Many thanks to Elizabeth Basquill and the publisher 'The Friends of Hurst Grange Park' for permission to reproduce this text from Elizabeth Basquill's 2011 publication ‘More Hidden Histories of Penwortham Houses'.

 

LICENSEE HISTORY

Ian Robinson MBII

22nd April 2011 to date

 

Anne-Marie Isles ABII

22nd August 2008 to 22nd April 2011

 

Graham Skeoch

2005 to August 22nd 2008

 

Peter & Yvonne Whittaker

2003 to 2005

 

David Lowe

 

Duncan West

 

Colin & Doreen Haggar

1968 to August 23rd 1991

Colin retired on his 63rd birthday and had been landlord for 23 years!

He took over from his father-in-law John Gornall.

John Edward Gornall

? to 1968

John was also a blacksmith/farrier and started working at the Bull by waiting on in the front room when customers would ring a bell for service.

?

 Phillip J J Clifton

recorded as Landlord of the Black Bull Beerhouse in 1932 (Barretts Directory of Preston & District)

?

Thomas Doyle (Inn Keeper) & Margaret Ellen Doyle
and their four children Gilbert, Edith, Harold & Clifford
plus servant (!) Margaret Emmerson (census of 1911)

Thomas Riley (Inn Keeper) & Alice Riley (census of 1901)

William Ashton (Beer Seller) & Ann Ashton (census of 1881 and 1891. Their children were John (who was working full time on Ashton's farm at the tender age of 12!), Alice, Nancy, Annie and Grace (all at school) and little William is a baby of 3 months.

John Wrennall (Beer Seller) & Jean Wrennall
and children Thomas and Mary Jane (census of 1871)

Nicholas Knowles (Beer Seller) (census of 1861)- from before 1838 to at least 1861

Preston Chronicle March 14, 1840 - BURGLARY - Late on Sunday night last, or early on Monday morning, the house of Mr Nicholas Knowles, shopkeeper, Penwortham, was broken into through a back window, and a cheese and a half, some currants, a quantity of tobacco, two rolls of check, and a drawer containing three pounds in copper, besides some thread, worsted, and other articles, were carried off.  On the following day, when some of the Rural Police were walking on the banks of the Ribble, they observed a bag concealed in a sewer, which, after the intelligence  was communicated to the proper quarter, was watched, and two persons, named Cuthbert Cottam and T. Ingram, were observed to fetch the bag, they were of course followed, and taken into custody.  On searching one of the prisoners houses, a pike was found wrapped up in a Northern Star newspaper.  On Wednesday, the prisoners were committed to the House of Correction for trial.

Preston Chronicle, March 7, 1857 - FIRE IN A SMITHY - As PS Whiteside, of the county constabulary, was passing the Smithy of John Ascroft, at the end of Pope-lane in Penwortham, about half past eleven o’ clock on Thursday night week, he discovered the building to be on fire.  Breaking open the door he found a heap of turf on fire, which had ignited the roof, and he called up the family of Nicholas Knowles, beer seller, who extinguished the flames before much damage was done.  It appeared afterwards that Ascroft had been hooping some wheels, and on leaving the smithy the embers of the turf used for heating the hoops had been thrown upon a heap of turf in the smithy before they were fully extinguished.

Preston Chronicle, September 1, 1866 - NOTICE - All persons having ACCOUNTS against MR NICHOLAS KNOWLES, of the Black Bull, Penwortham, are requested to send them in immediately, and, if found correct they will be discharged; and all persons OWING money to the said Nicholas Knowles are requested to pay the same forthwith.

Preston Chronicle - May 8, 1869 - DEATH FROM EXCESSIVE DRINKING - An inquest was held on Monday, at the Sumpter Horse, Penwortham, before M. Myres, Esq. coroner, on the body of a person named Nicholas Knowles, who had died from excessive drinking.  It appeared from the evidence that the deceased, who had been a publican, but had latterly retired from the business, had been in the habit of having fits of drinking for four or five days together. A verdict of ‘Death from excessive drinking’ was returned.

 

 

Owners/Operators & Brewery History

William & Elizabeth Tuson of Ashton-on-Ribble until 1895

James Holt of the Ribbleside Inn, Preston 1896 to 1897

Thomas Sharples of Longton 1896 to 1916

Thomas Richard Wilkins of Longton from 1917 to ?

W & R Wilkins Brewery - 1917 to 1952

Groves & Whitnall Brewery - 1952 to 1961

Greenall Whitley (later Greenalls) Brewery 1961 to 1998

Pubmaster? - to be confirmed

Scottish & Newcastle - to date

 

Buildings History

Extension 1 circa 1987

Extension 2 ?

Built before 1838

 

Many thanks to Gordon Small of CAMRA West Lancs Branch and to many customers for their assistance with the research

Many thanks to Dave Cookson for the 1932 information

Many thanks to Peter Bamford of Lytham for the 1911 Census information

Many thanks to Heather Crook of the Penwortham Magazine for supplying the information relating to Nicholas Knowles

Many thanks to Stephen Finney for the information about Colin Hagger and John Gornall

Many thanks to Annette Gornall for information (grand daughter of John Gornall and niece of Colin Hagger)

 

Licensee/Buildings/Brewery histories continue to be researched

Do you have any photographs we can use?

Can you fill in the gaps and dates? If so please email us