117 Westgate Street in 1906 and 92 Westgate Street in 1927. The Corner Shades was on the corner with Three Cocks Lane. It was mentioned in the Gloucester Traders Directory in 1873 and it was a tied house of the Gloucester City Brewery (1894 reference). The County Shades Inn was originally part of the old Kings Head Hotel building and served as the hotel ‘tap’ bar. The Kings Head Hotel went out of business in 1865 due to the loss of the stage-coach trade. After the Kings Head Hotel closed it was converted to Victoria Chambers and the ‘tap’ on the corner of Three Cocks Lane, was renamed the County Shades.
Advertisement: Gloucester Journal. Saturday January 15th 1870: The County Shades. Late Kings Head Hotel, Westgate Street, Gloucester. John T. Morris, late of the Booth Hall Hotel begs respectfully to announce that he has taken on the above establishment where he hopes by strict personal attention to the comforts and requirements of his patrons to meet and secure a continence of those favours so liberally bestowed upon the late proprietor. The wine and smoking room, which has been redecorated, is spacious and lofty is supplied with daily and weekly papers, reviews, directories, etc. and adjoining is a convenient lavatory. The wines are selected with the greatest care and sold as imported and as the same brands are followed on as used by the late proprietor. Purchasers can rely on being supplied by the same character of wine. The spirits are old of undoubted purity and sold at the wholesale strength. The wines and spirits are sold by the imperial measure in the smallest quantities. The livery stables and yard adjoining the above premises will continue under the management of J.T.M. as heretofore.
Gloucester Journal: September 15th, 1877: A cashbox containing between £30 and £40 in cash and notes was stolen from the County Shades Inn in this city on Saturday last. The thief has not yet been found.
Gloucester Journal: October 13th, 1877: We hear that the cash box stolen from the County Shades in this city a few weeks ago has been found in a field at Walham. The money, amounting at about £22, was gone but the cheques, some pawn tickets, and a glazier’s diamond were left in the box.
Gloucester Journal: July 29th, 1882 – County Police: Mr Cooke, of the County Shades, Westgate Street, applied for an occasional licence at the Liberal Fete on Bank Holiday. The chairman said that fetes were always held on Bank Holiday, where persons seemed remarkably thirsty and desirous of getting as drunk as possible – granted.
The exterior of the County Shades featured three etched windows on which were advertised ‘Wines and Spirits’, ‘County Shades Hotel’, and ‘Ales and Stouts’. The emblem ‘Bass in bottles’ was also prominently displayed. The Hotel status is dubious as it was only a small corner pub. The licence of the County Shades was objected to in February 1927 on the grounds of redundancy. After the pub closed down the premises was occupied by Don Meadows Wholesale and Retail Fruit merchants. The building that once housed the Kings Head Hotel was demolished after the Second World War. The site is now occupied by the County Council’s career offices.
Landlords at the County Shades include:
1879 W.P. Hopkins
1870 John T. Morris (from the Booth Hall Hotel)
1885 Henry Cook
1893 Mrs A. Franklin
1902,1919 Ada A. Franklin
1921 Eugene Emile Jules Joseph Staelens
1927 Harry John Watts
