The Albion Inn was originally a small unpretentious town pub. The annual rateable value increased three fold from 1891 to 1903 suggesting that it was substantially altered during this time by the new owners – Showell & Co’s Croswells Brewery of Oldbury (West Midlands). Florence Maynard was the landlady at the Albion Inn for 38 years between 1899 and 1937. The Albion Inn was further enlarged in 1947 when the adjoining Jamaica Cottage was incorporated into the pub. It retained a ‘Jug and Bottle’ off licence up until the 1980’s.
The Albion Inn until comparatively recently was branded as an Ansells pub – a legacy of the ownership by Allied Breweries which once included Ind Coope of Burton on Trent. (It was Ind Coope that acquired Showell & Co of Oldbury).
The Albion is opposite the Tewkesbury Roses theatre. The Albion Venue Bar claimed to be ‘Tewkesbury’s top entertainment for the over 25’s.’
From “Tewkesbury Pubs” by B.R. Linnell (1972, second edition 1996)
Not to be confused with Albion House, an earlier name for Clarence House. The sign today is a painting of a Roman legionnaire, replacing a series of pictures of full-rigged men o’ war which marked the house until about 1990. Premises today are much larger than the little beerhouse opened by George Grubb in about 1860. This was the date of his first conviction for running an unlicensed beerhouse so he may have been at it several years earlier. At any rate, he had several more convictions before he was granted a licence to carry on what he obviously intended to do. from 1864 he was ‘legal’.
Since 1947 the bar area has been extended to the north to take in Jamaica Cottage, to the south to include a little cottage and to the east to take in a large area along the Gravel Walk. As the markets dwindled so the pub grew. In the fifties modernisation followed the trend of removing internal partitions to create one large drinking area. The Jug & Bottle survived as separate little ‘snug’ for a few years but finally followed the trend.
At the time of writing the bar carried a good range of single malts. In the public bar there are a few cast iron tables decorated with the faces of various Victorian generals, perhaps the most valuable bar furniture in the county. The Albion is the only pub to survive off the main streets.
Licensing Details:
Owner in 1891: Diana Grubb (free from brewery tie)
Rateable value in 1891: £20.0s.0d.
Type of licence in 1891: Alehouse
Owner in 1903: Showell & Co., Oldbury, Staffordshire
Rateable value in 1903: £60.0s.0d.
Type of licence in 1903: Alehouse
Closing time in 1903: 11pm
Owner in 2005: Punch Taverns
Landlords at the Albion Inn include:
1864 -1891 George Grubb
1891 Diana Grubb (Diana was the widow of George)
1897 -1899 Florence Mary Rodhouse (Florence was married to a policeman who could not hold the licence)
1899 -1937 Florence Mary Maynard
1937 -1952 Wilfred ‘Billy’ Crisp
1952 John Hollis
1958 M. Crisp
1958 -1985 Tom Nichols
1985 Christopher Hawkins
199? Chris and Nicky Hawkins
1999 Dave Chandler
2001 Philip Bint and Ira Gwillam
