The Aurora Inn was at the far end of the Abbey Almshouses, near Tewkesbury Abbey. It probably took its name from Aurora passage. The earliest mention of the Aurora is in 1869, but was in existence before that date presumably operating under a different name. The building is 500 years old! The Tewkesbury Brewery owned the small beer house in 1891. The Aurora was the first building in Tewkesbury to have an automatic flushing device installed in its toilets but, surprisingly, the surveying department from the town council insisted on its removal. The Aurora failed to meet the requirements of the local justices and was referred for compensation, closing in 1917.
The row of cottages where the Aurora was located was renovated during 1969 – 1972. The large fireplace, which was originally a feature of the public bar, was also restored. The fireplace has room for two persons to sit inside the stonework. It is now the local office of David Billingham & Partners, Solicitors. (Buckles Court, 39 Church Street).
From ‘Tewkesbury Pubs’ by B.R. Linnell (1972, Second edition 1996)
As a poor beerhouse this was an easy victim for the Compensation Act. It boasted a massive stone inglenook visible today in the rear of the National Trust shop in Church Street. It had two claims to fame in its day: “The stick without an end that grew on the battlefield” and the other was the first automatic flushing toilet in the town. The nature of the first is open to speculation. The second attracted the attention of the Town Council who sent the Borough Surveyor to look into it. When they were told that it flushed regularly whether used or not, they demanded its removal on the basis of waste of water. It was not a new house when first recorded in 1869.
Licensing Details:
Owner in 1891: Tewkesbury Brewery
Rateable value in 1891: £13.0s.0d.
Type of licence in 1891: Beerhouse
Owner in 1903: Arnold Perrett & Co. Ltd., Wickwar Brewery
Rateable value in 1903: £23.0s.0d.
Type of licence in 1903: Beer and Cider licence
Closing time in 1903: 11pm
Landlords at the Aurora include:
1869 Charles Buckle
1869-1879 Samuel Mayall
1879-1889 Alfred Mayall
1889-1897 Charles Henry Joyner
1898 Henry Broadwell
1898-1899 A. H Price
1899-1901 John R. Black
1901-1902 J. J. Pointin
1902-1903 Algernon W. Neale
1903-1904 Catherine Crisp
1905 Mary Ann Ford
1905-1906 Horace Barnes
1906-1910 Henry Halford
1910-1912 Horace Barnes (B.R. Linnell)
1910-1912 William Smith
1912-1913 Herbert Watkins
1913-1917 John Jarvis (or Jervis, B.R. Linnell)
