1. : Rivals
There are many examples of 19th Century
cut-throat competition, based on plagiarism.
For example, the long-established Goat (Goat & Kid)
was forced to become the Old Goat, after the
creation of the rival New Goat in the near vicinity.
In the Back of the Inns, it was
a War of the Roses instead !.
Oddly, the red variety seems to have been the only
instance of its kind in Norwich; where most of the
(very many) Roses were of unspecified colour,
and a few were always White.
2. : A Rose . . .
The story begins in 1822 with a plain Rose.
By 1836 the landlord was Henry Brockhall, who also
operated as a Wine & Spirits merchant, at least until
1845 (Ann Brockhall).
Faced with a rival Rose Tavern in the same street by
1839, he modified his pub name to White Rose.
Henry Sweatman (Sweetman, officially !) had taken
over the other Rose by 1845; and in 1850 his pub is
listed as the Red Rose; giving complete clarification at last.
3. : Brewery Ties
In 1845 the White Rose was a Free House,
but the Red Rose was tied to Bullard's (as shown in
the 1845 Official List); although, by 1867,
the tie had gone to S. & P. Brewery.
In 1872 Bullard's resumed the tie of the
Red Rose, but gave up around 1895.
This probably co-incided with the arrival of
William Grix as landlord (10th October 1895);
later to become the well-known restaurateur
William Grix Ltd. [1]
Grix was not, however, the owner of the
Red Rose Spirit Stores free house; who were
(strangely) Executors of one W. R. L'Estrange.
This status allowed Percy Harry L'Estrange to
take over the running of the pub from Grix
after five years (10th October 1900).
Yet, by 18th December 1900, Frederick T. Firman
was licensee; and - in the New Year - Firman,
Wm. Flaxman 'and others' actually took ownership.
After the replacement of the rival White Rose,
(see para. 5) Grix managed to regain the licence
on 9th October 1906, exactly 11 years after his
first arrival. At this point he was running
the Red Rose as a Free House once more.
4. : Family Ties
To secure the succession to his son, Grix managed
to purchase the premises on 8th February 1910.
The son, William Lionel Grix, became licensee on
10th October 1911 and was still in charge when the
Red Rose was closed under the Compensation Act
on 9th January 1935.
At some point after 1911, Grix Senior died,
the property being held by his Executors.
Nevertheless, in 1914 the pub was still listed
as a Free House, under Wm. Grix Ltd.
Possibly it was tied, once again, to S. & P. by 1935.
Both pubs survived long enough to be given
street numbers (on opposite sides) :
the Red Rose at No. 9 and
the White Rose at No. 10.
[1] Grix was more famous as the proprietor of the
Criterion Restaurant (and Central Café) in nearby
White Lion Street. Also see separate topic.
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5. : White Fades
Various changes of ownership at the White Rose
are listed in its Details Section.
But the significant moves were -
* firstly, to Coleman & Co. control;
* secondly, to Bullard's Brewery.
Bullard's, having lost the tie to the Red Rose,
were quick to "swap" to the other pub.
The property was conveyed in 1890 from the ownership
of William Forster of Blickling and John Rout of
Norwich to Coleman's Brewery of Queen St., Norwich
and to Edw. Baldwin (Norwich merchant tailor).
The conveyance stated that the term was for the
residue of 2 terms of 1000 years. The first term was
created 20th March 1800 and the second 25th March 1806.
Despite all the above complications, shortly after
1894 Bullard's acquired the pub i.e. well before
its replacement by the Arcade Stores.
6. : Arcade Stores
The Directory listing of 1905 was - in at least one sense
- out-of-date, as the White Rose building was eliminated
by 1899, in the construction of the Royal Arcade.
The Arcade opened on 25th May 1899,
and the new pub in August.
The 1883 O.S. Map shows the pub in a position which
could not possibly have remained unaffected by the
re-development. It was immediately South of Rose Yard.
Indeed in the Norfolk Chronicle & Norwich Gazette
of 25th August 1900 the Chief Constable reported that :-
. . . certain changes had taken place, the old house had
been taken down, and a new one erected about 3 feet
further back and extending into the Arcade, and even
the name had changed from the White Rose to the
"Arcade Stores".
So it is quite legitimate to regard the
Arcade Stores as the successor pub.
The new Arcade Stores was a Bullard's tied house.
One Ernest Bullard was licensee from March 1901
until December 1946 !. This sounds suspiciously
like a licence granted for a managed house.
If so, it is a very early example of the genre.
Richard Bristow
reports that signs were displayed
around 1920 saying No Ladies Admitted.
The building also suffered the loss of its decorative
dome in a fire in November 1940. The fire was first
reported by my father, a policeman at the time.
It was not related to enemy action, but destroyed
a large area between the Back of the Inns and
White Lion Street.
7. : The Loss
The pub had the alternative address
of 24, Royal Arcade;and finally closed
on 14th June 1962, to be converted for use as shops.
This was much to the detriment of that part of the
Royal Arcade devoted to pub use; not just for drinking
purposes, but also regarding its architectural features.
These had been commented upon by many people,
including the Bystanders Society survey of 1961.
Aside from marble-top tables and a matching bar
counter, the survey noted the tiled exterior; possibly
the best example known of such Victorian work.
The advent of the butcher's shop destroyed
(permanently) the remarkable tracery windows -
in stone - on theg round floor, along with a lot of
the tile-work.
Comparatively recently, the Waterstone's shop has been
considerably restored in a style well matched to the
original and to other parts of the arcade.
The original Bullard's pub can be seen on
page 40 of
Riddington Young's book.
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