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(Paras. 1 to 8)

Norwich Pubs in 1914

The Directory Listings


2. The Leader :  3. Other Breweries   5. The Hotels :  6. Other Free Outlets :  7. Summary
8. Footnotes

1. : Historical Juncture

1914 was chosen as a benchmark year
for obvious reasons :
  • the heavy loss of life in the impending World War;
  • customers, in those days, being mainly men.

This benchmark has been used as the Classic Tie
for those pubs in existence at the time; the 1914
Jarrold's Directory having the great added advantage
of showing all the brewery ties, Free Houses, etc.

There had already been some nine years of
depredations following the Compensation Act 1904.
No less than 78 pubs had fallen victim
by the end of 1913.
(Understandably, four of these were still listed in 1914).
Several more were to be closed by December 1914.

Where a pub closed before 1914, the brewery
(if known) is also shown as the Classic Tie.

2. : The Leader

The runaway leader in the 1845 List, amongst the
'Big' breweries, had been Steward & Patteson :
183 houses and almost 44% of all ties.
By 1914, however, Bullard's had edged ahead :
133 to 126.
Plus some intermediate figures for August 1890 :-
   1890 1914 
104  Bullard's133 -29.6%
141  S. & P.126 -28.0%
83  Youngs'87 -19.3%
65  Morgan's73 -16.2%
31  Lacon's31 -6.9%
It is remarkable that the oldest Norwich brewery
- by far - had fallen to under 17% of the total*,
despite a useful upsurge since 1890.
Conversely, the "upstart" brewery had advanced
remarkably - from the comparable figure of
only 8.2% in 1845; ignoring Lacon's.

Note : The total* is for the five breweries only,
           i.e. not including the remaining pubs.

3. : Other Breweries

As for local breweries in 1914, the answer is just two :
Cooper-Brown of East Dereham, who were at the
St. Giles' Gate Stores;
and T. S. Bidwell & Sutton of Thetford, at the
Corn Exchange, St. George's Bridge Street.
However the latter pub closed in February 1915.
(Also see Grapes Hotel in para. 4 below).

In 1914 Allsopp & Co. (Burton on Trent)
are listed at just two pubs :

Clarification of some of the 1890 figures :-
The identical total for Lacon's is, in fact, an
amalgamation of 25 pubs under Grimmer's
and 6 under Arnold's.
In the 1845 List Grimmer's pubs
were recorded under Seaman's.

Also 7 pubs had been listed in 1890 under Cann & Co.
of Wymondham; who had left the Norwich scene by 1914.

 

4. : The Merchants

Wines and Spirits merchants, some being important
businesses, have always formed a significant part of
the free licensed trade.
In 1914, these were principally :-
  • Messrs. Back's, with three outlets
  • Messrs. Barwell's, with two outlets
  • Cubitt, Brown & Carter at the Wine Vaults
        (Fye Bridge)
  • Quick's Wine Vaults (formerly Athow's)
        in the Back of the Inns.
One Major Eustace Cuthbert Quilter was trading as
Bidwell & Co.; but also had owned, for some 9 years,
the said Grapes Hotel. However the latter was still
listed in 1914 under Allsopp; who had taken over in 1890.

Premises formerly occupied by merchants, which had
preserved their free status - after apparently changing
to 'ordinary' pubs - were as follows :-

5. : The Hotels

Hotels rightly tend to cherish their status as
Free Houses, which in 1914 were listed as follows :-

6. : Other Free Outlets

Heading the more general list are three establishments
whose principal function was that of a licensed restaurant :- Two railway Refreshment Rooms are listed at :-
Thorpe Station and City Station.

Other free pubs - even back in 1914
worth their weight in gold :-
Burton Ale Stores : 17 White Lion St.
Harcourts [2] : St. Benedict's Gate
Earl of Cardigan : 56 Orchard Street
Red Rose [3] : Back of the Inns
Fruiterers : The Walk
Shakespeare [4] : Theatre Street
Golden Ball : Cattle Market
Ten Bells : St. Benedict's Street
Grocers' Arms [5] : 135 King Street
Volunteer Stores : Chapel Field Road

7. : Summary

The number of pubs tied to the 5 main brewers
totals 450, as per the percentage table in para. 2
The various categories of Free Houses, detailed above,
total 35, i.e. only 7.2 % (This compares with
a mysterious figure of 18 in the 1890 survey).

The grand total for 1914 is therefore 485.
Importantly, this figure includes beer retailers,
which is yet another advantage of working
from the local 1914 Jarrold's Directory.

8. : Footnotes
[1] Owned, since 1895, by Coleman & Co.
      Westwick Street.
[2] Also known as "The Omnibus".
[3] Messrs. Grix, restaurateur, White Lion Street.
[4] Tied to Harman Brothers for wines etc.,
      but free for beer sales.
[5] Also known as Websdale's.


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