The Crown and Harp, a good and much-missed locals’ pub, had a comfortable front lounge bar and a public bar to the rear.
McCarthy & Stone (Developments) Ltd bought the Crown & Harp from the Laurel Pub Company from an undisclosed sum in July 2003. The plans were to demolish the pub and replace it with 35 flats for the elderly.
The Crown & Harp was a popular community pub and was home to football teams, darts teams and pool teams.
A petition was started by the regulars in an attempt to stop its impending closure. Tewkesbury Borough Council refused planning permission initially because the proposed development was too high. McCarthy & Stone revised their plans and the council accepted the amendments. The Crown and Harp closed in July 2004 and was boarded up.
A local resident at the time told the ‘Gloucestershire Echo’: “We’ve resigned ourselves to what’s happened and now just have to accept it. We didn’t want the pub to close and we didn’t want a three-storey building so we’re disappointed. The developers always seem to get their way.”
The Crown & Harp was demolished in February 2005. It is with some irony that the population of Bishops Cleeve has grown exponentially since the closure of the Crown & Harp and there is little doubt that it could have been a vibrant community pub today.
Licensing Details:
Owner in 1891: C.J. Martineau (free from brewery tie)
Rateable value in 1891: £15.5s.0d.
Type of licence in 1891: Alehouse
Owner in 1903: Cheltenham Original Brewery
Rateable value in 1903: £22.10s.0d.
Type of licence in 1903:
Closing time in 1903: 10pm
Landlords at the Crown & Harp include:
1856 W. Preater
1885,1891 Jesse Minett
1902 Mrs Sarah Ann Wilson
1903,1906 John James Aston
1919, 1927 Robert H. Bettridge
1939 Arthur James Buck
? W. L. (Les) Winters
2000 Christina Richardson (moved to the Apple Tree, Woodmancote in March 2001)
2001 (March) Steve Baker
2002,2003 Mark Bailey
