The Fleece Hotel was located in the centre of Cinderford, roughly where the Miners statue now stands. The Kellys directory of 1939 gives the address as 18 High Street.
Image courtesy Sarah French (Facebook Post)
In 1891 the Fleece Hotel was owned by the Tewkesbury Brewery Company and, according to the licensing book of that year, it was their only pub in the Forest of Dean. Ownership of the Fleece Hotel had passed to Arnold Perrett & Co. of Wickwar, 12 years later in 1903. The annual rateable value of the alehouse was £54.0s.0d. and closing time, in common with all Cinderford town pubs, was 11 pm. Cheltenham Original Brewery and West Country Breweries were the owners in later years.
In August 1895 a Mr Norman, from Gloucester, surgeon and dentist, was advertising that ‘he will be at the Fleece Hotel, Cinderford, from 11am-6pm every Thursday’… and that he used Nitrous Oxide gas for painless extraction. I wonder if those arriving early at the Fleece Hotel with a nervous disposition might have been tempted to quaff a few pints of the strongest of the Tewkesbury ales before even being administered with the dose of Nitrous Oxide gas to see Mr Norman.
In 1905 the Fleece Hotel was the headquarters of the Cinderford Football Club. The fixture list for 1906 included games with Neath, Aberdare, Coventry and Exeter.
When F.L. White was landlord in 1939 he posted an advertisement for the pub, which read: ‘A bright spot for any holiday maker! The Fleece Hotel, Cinderford. Here you will find good company, happy surroundings and a song. Together with a first-class drink. Cheltenham Ales and Stouts. Fully licensed. Bed & Breakfast.’
The Fleece Hotel was demolished c1963. Gordon Teague, the last landlord, moved to the nearby Swan Hotel.
Gloucester Citizen, Saturday 18th July 1936 – Case dismissed at Littledean: Littledean magistrates yesteday dismissed a case of alleged assault without calling the defence when Joseph Hopkins, licensee of the Fleece Hotel, Cinderford, was summoned by Charlotte Matilda Parkes, of Popes Hill.
Parkes made an allegation that Mr Hopkins had interferred with her clothing, but a witness subpaened for the prosecution gave another version, and stated that she stuck a pin in him when he was serving a customer, and pushed her away.
Gloucester Journal, Saturday 4th July 1942 – Reported missing in Libya: Bdr. Arthur Barrington (29) is reported missing, presumed prisoner of war in the Libya fighting. He had been licensee of the Fleece Hotel, Cinderford, before going back into the Army.
Landlords at the Fleece Hotel include:
1874-1878 James White (also a butcher. He was in debt in 1877)
1879 Robert Ansley
1881-1889 James Barter
1885 James Barter
1891-1892 Milson Huzzey
1891 Mary Evans
1896-1897 Mrs Ellen Huzzey (also Hussey)
1900 (9th Oct: ‘temporary transfer Miss Keyse to J.H. Philips of the Volunteer Hotel, Cardiff’)
1901,1902 John William Philips
1903,1906 Thomas George Jenkins
1906 Thomas Baker
1907 Philip Brown
1908 (July) Thomas Shepherd
1910 Charles James Thomas
1911 ‘The license of the Fleece Hotel, Cinderford, was temporarily transferred from Charles Rhomas ro Albert John Jones.’ (Gloucester Chronicle Saturday 28th October 1911)
1911-1915 Albert Jones (died Nov. 1915)
1918 Mrs Maud Jones (Wife of Albert)
1927,1935 Charles Jenkins
1936 Joseph Hopkins
1937 A.S.J. Barrington
1939 F.L. White
1961-1963 Gordon Teague (moved to the Swan Hotel)