Gloucester Journal, Saturday March 5th 1870 – Joseph Smith, a seaman, was charged with assaulting Thomas Rust, a labourer, on the 26th February. It appears that the parties were drinking at the British Flag beer house, when a quarrel arose, and the landlord cleared the house. A fight then took place in the streets, and Smith knocked the complainant down. The latter was picked up insensible and remained so for some time and was subsequently removed to the infirmary. Defendant was fined one shilling and costs.
Advertisement: ‘Citizen’ Saturday, October 15th, 1983: ‘British Flag, Southgate Street, Gloucester – Every Sunday. Disco Night. Free Admission.’
The old British Flag is on the southern corner of the docks entrance in Southgate Street. It became a leasehold tied house of Wadworth of Devizes in the 1980’s and was renamed the Tall Ship.
From Wikipedia: The public house is a two-storey italianate style building with a cellar. It is built on the corner of the entrance to the Docks. It has north and east facing sides and it is angled at the corner where the main entrance is located. The walls consist of stuccoed brick with stone details. It has a slate roof with two chimney stacks stuccoed in the same style as the walls. The north and east fronts have offset plinths, a raised band at the first-floor level and at the top a moulded crowning cornice with parapet above. The corner entrance doorway is framed by a moulded architrave with a carved key stone in the lintel and pilasters with moulded brackets supporting a cornice. Above this doorway is the sign for the public house, which conceals a window behind it, this is framed by decorative pilasters. On the parapet over the corner is a wrought-iron frame with decorative brackets and cresting. The east front on Southgate Street has a secondary entrance door and two sash windows on the ground floor, then 3 sash windows on the upper floor. The windows all have plain stone frames with projecting and raised key stones in the lintels and projecting stone sills. The north side has two sash windows on both floors, in the same style as the east side, and is the further extended by a wing to the rear. The wing has three sash windows on each floor in a similar style but with plain lintels. The windows in the wing are irregularly spaced. On the north side is one of the chimney stacks capped by a moulded cornice, the other chimney stack is on the south side.
In April 2021 Wadworth disposed some of their pubs, including the Tall Ship. The lease was taken over by Red Oak Taverns.
Landlords at the British Flag / Tall Ship include:
1879 Susan Jackson
1879 Henry Allen
1893 Mrs Haugh
1906 B. Hough
1936,1939 Annie Whitmore
1957 William E.J. Turner
? Charlie Thomas
1998,2007 Tim and Pat Nelmes (Tall Ship)
