The original Royal Oak was a stone built pub with tiled roof and with a rendered front with two small bay windows with a central entrance. In the 1920’s it even boasted its own bowling green. In 1957 the house next door, Sunnybank, was purchased by the Stroud Brewery and the licence was transferred. The Stroud Brewery built a large annex onto the house and the original Royal Oak was demolished to make room for a car park. The ownership passed to West Country Breweries in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, and then to Whitbread. It was then acquired by the Laurel Pub Company. In July 2004 Greene King of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, became the owners of Laurel Pubs. In 2006 the Royal Oak was crowned Greene King Catering Pub of the Year.
Gloucester Journal, December 22nd 1883: A man named William Bannister, of Barnwood, was in the act of harnessing a horse, belonging to Mr Organ, of the Oak Inn, Hucclecote, when the animal kicked him in the mouth. He was knocked against a wall and rendered insensible. He was conveyed to the Infirmary.
Gloucester Journal, June 1889: On Saturday at the New Inn Hotel, Gloucester, Mr H. Villar sold, for Mr G. Hone, instructed by Messrs Brookes and Badham, Tewkesbury, several freehold properties. The Royal Oak Inn, Hucclecote, was sold to Mr. Boughton for £660.
During Easter Saturday afternoon, April 4th, 1942, enemy bombers demolished two houses on the Hucclecote Road. During the raids seven people died, and two of them were young children. Several buildings later had to be demolished because they were regarded as being unsafe. The German bomb fell just a few yards from the Royal Oak, on the Barnwood side of the Hucclecote Road.
The Citizen: Tuesday, November 29th 1988: Wine run team raise £2,000 – A City licensee and three of his regulars have raised £2,000 for the disabled in Gloucester, thanks to completing in a Beaujolais Run. Darren Moore, licensee of the Royal Oak, a Whitbread Severn Inns pub in Hucclecote Road, and regulars Mark Blanchfield, Paul Blanchfield and Brian Hibbert, went on the run. They claim to have been one of the first – if not the first – back to Gloucester. It is hoped that when all the money is in £2,000 will have been raised. It will go towards maintaining the Royal Oak’s bus, which is used by many organisations to provide outings for disabled children. Said Darren: “It was certainly an exhausting experience, but nevertheless enjoyable. We were determined to be one of the first back, but we had to overcome many obstacles, such as thick fog in France, and of course, the ferry strike. This year’s Beaujolais Run was the ninth completed by the Royal Oak. The previous eight were organised by former licensee Mike Blanchfield, who died earlier this year.
Map Reference: SO 867176
https://www.hungryhorse.co.uk/pubs/gloucestershire/royal-oak
Licensing Details:
Type of licence in 1891: Alehouse
Owner in 1891: Joshua White (free from brewery tie)
Rateable Value in 1903: £51.0s.0d.
Type of licence in 1903: Alehouse
Owner in 1903: Godsell & Sons, Salmon Springs Brewery, Stroud
Closing time in 1903: 10pm
Owner in 2006: Greene King
Landlords at the Royal Oak include:
1856 E.J. Smith
1871 Joshua White (was at Cross Hands, Brockworth in 1881)
1885 Robert Boon
1891 Joshua White (presumably back at the Royal Oak after a period at the Cross Hands, Brockworth)
1897 Mrs Emily White
1902 William Long
1903,1906 Miles Lane
1919,1939 Frank Edward Nix
1957 J.R. Hopkins
1986,1987 Michael & Anne Blanchfield (retired in December 1987. They were presented with the Whitbread Community Care award for their fund-raising work, in particular for arranging trips for disabled children.
1988 Darren Moore
1998 Chris and Heather McDermott
2001 (May),2003 Mel Prentice
2005 (Jan) Peter and Diane Fryar
