Reign of Queen Victoria 1837 to 1901
Inns had existed in the village since the 17th century. You would have found the Five Bells on the Green, and The George in what is now George Street. But the 1800’s saw an astonishing increase in premises purely for drinking beer or ale. Although premises had to be licensed, it was relatively easy to convert the front parlour of a house to become an ale house. Several of them also brewed their own beer. In 1869 the Cambridge Independent Press published an analysis of the number of public houses per village population. Willingham and Swavesey tied for first place with one licensed house for every 61 of the population which was then 1,630. It will come as no surprise to find there was also a Temperance Society!
The following list of 23 has been compiled using records from Herbert Norris’s History of Willingham of 1890 together with census records researched by Anne Kirkman. I have shown the known street location of many of them but there must have been more. Can anyone fill in the blanks?
- Three Tuns – Church Street
- Ringers Rest – Church Street
- The Hoop – Church Street
- Lord Nelson – Church Street
- Black Bull – Station Road
- Vine Inn – Green End
- Five Bells Inn – The Green
- The Milkmaid – Rampton End
- Jolly Millers – Rampton End
- Kings Arms – Rampton End
- The George Inn – George Street
- Rose & Crown – George St
- White Hart – High Street
- Duke of Wellington – Church Street (Before the Battle of Waterloo it was known as The Warrior)
- Black Horse
- Black Lion
- King William
- Live and Let Live
- The Greyhound
- The Windmill
- The White Horse
- The Plough
- George and Dragon.
Next Time: Victorian Willingham – Schools
