Pubs and Breweries in Gloucestershire Past and Present
Hanover Inn, 48 Hanover Street, St Pauls, Cheltenham
The Hanover Inn, an end of terrace brick building, closed in 1977. A remarkable survivor is the sign of the Hanover Inn in plastic / alloy capital letters which can still be seen on the side elevation. There is also a rectangular patch within the bricks that once housed the ‘West Country Ales – Best in The West ceramic plaque. The building is on the periphery of Pittville Park and the pub would have been an ideal place for liquid refreshment and snacks in days gone by.
Note the surviving Hanover Inn sign, and ‘missing’ West Country ‘Best in the West’ ceramic plaque.
John Morgan was the owner of the Hanover Inn according to the 1891 licencing returns, with Thomas Richard Launchbury in occupancy as landlord. At that time the annual rateable value of the designated beer house was set at £19.5s.0d. Sometime during the next twelve years John Morgan died, and in 1903 the ownership Hanover Inn was in the hands of his executors. In late Victorian times John Morgan ran the Hanover Inn as a free house, but at the beginning of the Edwardian era the lease of the property had been secured by the Nailsworth Brewery. In 1903 the annual rateable value had also increased by two pounds to £21.5s.0d.
Landlords at the Hanover Inn include:
1870 James Bevan (Hanover Arms)
1878,1883 William Shore
1891 Thomas Richard Launchbury
1903 Elisha Hogg
1926 James Kidd
1939 C. Lewis
Hi Geoff,
Let’s start with filling in some gaps in the list of landlords of the Hanover Inn
You have James Bevan listed for 1870 (when it was known as the Hanover Arms). I can add the following:
1872-3 Royal – William Strong Hanover Inn
1876 Royal – William Shorey listed under Hanover Street for the Hanover Inn at (then) no. 23
1878 & 1883 you have William Shore listed. However, he is listed as William Shorey in the 1878 Royal Directory and 1883-4 Post Office Directory as above – 23 Hanover Street Hanover Inn.
For 1891 you have Thomas Richard Launchbury listed, and this accords with the 1890-1 Post Office Directory, which lists “23 Hanover Inn T.R. Launchbury”
1902 – 1904 Annuaire and Built-Leonard both list E. Hogg for the Hanover Inn (though in the 1903 & 1904 Annuaires the listing is for “Mr. E. Hogg) and the 1905 – 1908 Annuaires do the same.
1909 & 1910 Annuaires list Mr. C. Probert Hanover Inn. The 1911 & 1912 editions add an extra initial to list Mr. C.R. Probert. The 1911 Built-Leonard does too.
1913 & 1914 Looker-On list Mr. C. Baker
1915 & 1916 Looker-On Mr. A.W. Elliott
1922, 1924 & 1925 Built-Leonard list J. Kidd, and the 1926 Kelly’s James Kidd
1927 & 1928 Kelly’s list Mrs. F. Kidd
1929 – 1932 Kelly’s list Mrs. F. Edmunds but the 1931 Built-Leonard lists A.J. Edmunds. The 1932 Built-Leonard lists Mrs. Edmunds though.
1933 – 1935 Kelly’s list Victor J. Attwood and the 1934 Built-Leonard V.J. Attwood
1936 – 1938 Kelly’s list Mrs. Rosa Attwood
1939 – 1943, 1945, 1948, 1950 & 1952 Kelly’s list Chas. (Charles) Lewis
Although the Hanover Inn closed in 1977, I think it might well have been trading for quite a while prior to 1870. On the website you have a press clipping advertising the auction of the property on 13 July 1870, which includes farming livestock and seeds as well as the pub paraphernalia (including “about 600 gallons of Prime STRONG BEER”). This seems like a LOT (and I don’t just mean an auction lot!), and although strong beer might keep longer, still a large amount for a pub on the edge of town.
Also, I noticed on the 1855-7 Old Town Survey map that directly across Hanover Street from the pub, on the corner with Dunalley Parade, a large Brew House is marked, with a Malt House adjoining in Hanover Street. This suggests that the pub was active then. Perhaps it was supplying beer to some other St. Paul’s beerhouses – like the nearby Saddlers Arms in Larput Place (I believe I can push back its life to at least 1850 and possibly 1847).
It is interesting that W.L. Maule (William Loudon Maule 1822 – 1870), a Surveyor of roads in Cheltenham, lived in Hungerford Cottage (on the western corner of the junction of Hungerford Road and St. Paul’s Road) and Hungerford Villa (in Larput Place opposite the junction with Hungerford Place) from 1849 – 1854, before moving to Hanover Street from 1855 – 1863. (An Elizabeth Maule later owned the Farmers Arms in Worcester Street, off the Tewkesbury Road). I have no idea if there is a connection bewteen W.L. Maule and either the Hanover Inn or the Saddlers Arms, as I say…but the timing fits and the Hanover Inn or (Hanover Arms as it was known in the 1870s) seems to have been a going concern by 1855-7, with its own Brew House and Malt House and a large stock – something a Surveyor of roads might be able to afford – – – just saying!
Anyway, whether W.L. Maule was involved or not, I think with the evidence from the 1855-7 Old Town Survey map, it is likely that the Hanover Arms / Inn, or some kind of Tap House for the brewery,was operating in the mid-1850s, even if the pub itself isn’t marked on the map (as the Saddlers Arms is).
