The Crown Inn was situated in the hamlet of Hawthorns about half a mile to the north of Drybrook. The detached building is constructed of local sandstone and dates from 1832. The property is now residential and called the Old Inn.
The hamlet of Hawthorns straddled the Gloucestershire / Herefordshire border. It is said that the bar of the Crown Inn was in Gloucestershire and the lounge was in Herefordshire! There is also an unlikely tale that the bars even had different closing times!
It seems that the Crown Inn was under the jurisdiction of Herefordshire licensing authorities, it being listed in the parish of Hope Mansell.
Gloucester Journal: January 1881– A waggoner who was in charge of a team of three horses and a wagon, that was proceeding to the Forest of Dean from Upton Bishop for coals, met with a shocking accident on Thursday. Near the Hawthorns the animals took fright and the man having been knocked down, the wheels went over him, and tore the flesh from off his legs in a sickening manner. Mr S.Brain of Euroclydon, who happened to be near at the time, got the assistance of Dr Pringle, under whose direction the poor fellow was taken to the Crown Inn, and later in the day he was driven home. He lies in a very critical state.
Just to the west of the old Crown Inn is the southern portal of the 636 yard Hawthorns Railway Tunnel, also known as Euroclydon and Puddlebrook tunnel. This tunnel is possibly unique in railway history as, although the engineering works were completed, trains never passed through it. It seems amazing to think that the navvies working on the railway tunnel were labouring under harsh conditions for nothing! Still, at least they could quench their thirsts at the Crown Inn.
