Job Kibblewhite was the original landlord
and the owner.
He left the licence in December 1877 and in the next
year ownership transferred to Elijah Crosier Bailey,
Surrey Street.

In 1884 Cann & Clarke, brewers, of Wymondham
acquired the pub.
Finally, in 1894 Morgan's brewery took over.

The fact that Cann & Clarke stated that the pub was
previously known as the Mechanics' Tavern casts
doubt upon the starting date of 1870.
Perhaps it was an alternative name, used later on....

The police objected to the licence at the
1906 Licensing Sessions.

It was stated that the house was unwanted by the public,
and presented other problems making it unsuitable.
Inspector Cooper said that the house was old and in
bad repair, and there were structural and sanitary
objections to the premises.

The police found supervision difficult and there
were 15 other licensed houses within 200 yards.

The pub was accordingly closed, under the
Compensation Act, on 23rd August 1907;
after a period of 18 months' debate.

The original pub was one of only 44 principal
coaching inns listed in the 1783 Directory.

Possibly the original site of the Black Friars.

The original brewery tie was to Tompson's;
taken over in 1845 by Morgan's.

The name may have derived from the next door
tobacconists' shop - displaying the (then)
customary negro's head symbol.

The original building had three stories;
the top one being a succession of 'dormer windows'.
These were all large, and very similar to those
in the terrace opposite.

The extensive damage in WWII resulted (after a
long delay) in a repaired building of only 2 stories
with a conventional roofline.

There is a pre-war photograph hanging in the
City Club opposite.
Also an earlier photo (Buston), taken from
Calvert Street, appears in CLUER & SHAW :
Former Norwich, page 102.

There is a plaque to Sarah Glover, the inventor of
music's "tonic sol-fah" system
(otherwise known as Do, Ray, Me....).

Along with her sisters, Christina and Margaret,
she founded a school for 'gentlewomen'
(probably poor girls) in Black Boys Yard.

Her dates are 1786 to 1867.
She lived at no. 91, Pottergate.

Young's book, page 60, suggests an earlier date
for this pub, based on an incident in 1797.
However, this is more likely to have taken place in
St. George's Bridge Street - at the older establishment
of the same name.

The pub faced the centre of the nave of
St. George's church.

S. & P. Brewery supplied the free house in the
year commencing November 1842 - for a period.
It is uncertain when Seaman's Brewery took over,
but it was after 1845 - according to the 1845 Official List

Thomas Rising Booth was landlord by 1856 and served
until October 1879. The licence was dropped in 1894
to make way for Howlett & White's new shoe factory.

A photographic record can be found in :
CLUER & SHAW : Former Norwich, page 101.

A painting of 1846, of the site of the later factory,
appears in an advert on page 89 of City Council :
Official Guide (late 1940s).

The landlord in 1760 was described as an Innkeeper
(i.e. full-timer); which was fairly unusual,
and denotes a rather important house.

There are two commemorative plaques on the walls :-

• On this site stood the town house of the Augustinian
  Priory of Our Lady of Walsingham, which was
  conveyed to John the Prior in 1298.
• The visit of H.R.H. Duke of Edinburgh in
  July 1975, whilst on his tour of historic
  "Norwich Over The Water".

The stables were replaced with a new toilet-block
in 1975 (see Duke's visit).
A photo taken prior to 1971, and hence before the Royal
visit, appears in NOBBS, George : Norwich, a City of
Centuries, page 63.

The heavy front portico was a (late?) Victorian addition
to what was - by then - basically a Georgian
i.e. re-modelled building.

James Barnes was landlord by 1830,
and his widow Mary by 1836.
Mary served until at least 1866, and was listed in the
Trades Directories until 1868.
She was followed by her son, William,
who was replaced in October 1870.
Oddly, William re-appeared from 18th December 1873
to 6th January 1874.

Continued . . .

After the collapse of Watney's and "Grand Met" the pub
was apparently acquired by Phoenix Inns. At some later
point the ownership was held by the investment bank
Nomura of Japan. They had acquired several
properties around the country, which they bracketed
under the name "Wellington Pub Co."
In turn, the UK properties were managed by
Criterion Asset Management.

Probably c. August 1997, Criterion awarded a lease to
the Norfolk-based Eager Pub Group, also known as
"Eager Cause".
At least from then on, the pub was effectively
a Free House.

In March 2001 new landlords arrived, Nicola and
Robert Mills; who were soon (Sept.) faced with a
major problem : the extended closure in 2001/2 due to
subsidence and the need for much under-pinning.
This does not seem to have been connected with
the former "mushy pool".

See Details for subsequent history.

A picture c. 1945 can be found on page 131 of :
KENT & STEPHENSON : Norwich Inheritance.

A photo taken in 1999 appears on page 31 of
LANE, Richard : Plains of Norwich.

The original building was of flint, much of which
can still be seen in the lower courses of some of
the present structure.

What happened to the building after the pub closed
(by 1867) is a bit uncertain; although it was first
a weaving factory (Custance's) then a warehouse
(C. & F. Bolingbroke)

By 1890 it was the office of the Deputy Registrar
of births and deaths.

But in 1934 the premises were drastically altered
and expanded, both along Colegate and down
St. Clement's Alley towards the river.

Pub or not, it appears to have been as ancient a building
as the nearby Mischief Tavern or even Bacon House.
It is believed to have been the residence of John Aldrich,
grocer, who was Mayor in 1558 and 1570.

Thomas Edward Thorpe was the last recorded licensee.
He took over in 1851, then aged just 25. The pub closed
some time before 1867; probably in June 1864, when
Thorpe moved to the Greyhound in Ber Street.