20 Cricklade Street in 1919 directory.
The inn was reputedly where Bishop Hooper spent his last night on his journey from London to Gloucester where he was burnt at the stake for heresy in 1588. It is popularly supposed that the sign of the inn derives from this fact but an alternative suggestion is that it is named after St. Blaize, a Bishop in Asia Minor, who was the patron saint of woolcombers and was martyred for his faith in AD 316 by being tortured to death with woolcoms.
The Bishop Blaize closed in the early 1960’s (1962?) and was subsequently demolished and rebuilt as shops. Thorntons (28 Cricklade Street) and Halfords (28A Cricklade Street) later occupied the site
A nearby shopping arcade is named Bishops Walk.
Licensing Details:
Owner in 1891: Cirencester Brewery
Rateable Value in 1891: £11.5s.0d.
Type of license in 1891: Alehouse
Owner in 1903: Cirencester Brewery
Rateable Value in 1903: £18.10s.0d.
Type of license in 1903: Alehouse
Closing time in 1903: 10pm
Landlords at the Bishops Blaize Inn include:
1820 Jane Onion
1830 Richard Cole
1840,1841 Robert Yaxley
1856 William Yaxley (died Feb.1865)
1871,1881 Martha Yaxley (died April 1894)
1885,1891 William Dean
1902,1913 Patrick Mahoney
1919,1927 Charles Gibbons
