Lamb Hotel, (116) High Street, Cheltenham

Rowe’s Illustrated Cheltenham Guide of 1850 describes the Lamb Inn and Commercial Hotel:

“a house whose cheerful and central situation will afford every accommodation for families and commercial gentlemen. Mr. Hulbert, the presiding genius of the establishment, can conjure up ‘spirits from the vast deep’, of the most potent as well as of the mildest influence, and ‘wine, generous wine’ from his ‘shades below’,  of the most approved vintages, made good by ‘good old age’.. The culinary department is managed by a skillful wizard, assisted by a numerous train of humbler ‘fire worshippers’. The sleeping department is under the spell of the descendants of old Morpheus, and ‘with all the appliances and means to boot’. ‘Sleep, gentle sleep’ may be here enjoyed, spite the racking pains of the Bacchantes’ lures”. 

I can only conclude that Mr Rowe had enjoyed rather too many alcoholic drinks at the Lamb Hotel when he wrote his descriptive guide. Did a wizard really prepare the meals?

Looking West towards ‘Boots Corner’. The location of the Lamb is identified only by the painted Lamb Hotel sign high above street level.

Numbered 115-116 High Street in the original numbering this prestigious hotel was situated on the central site of the current Marks & Spencer department store. Date of closure unknown. It was still trading in the mid 1950’s.

Jane Scott was the owner of the Lamb Hotel in 1891 which she ran free from brewery tie. The designated and prestigious ale house had a substantial annual rateable value of £212.10s.0d. in 1891, increasing by twenty-five pounds and ten shillings to £238.0s.0d in 1903. In that year Charles Drew was recorded as the owner with the Lamb Hotel still trading as a free house.

Cheltenham Examiner, Wednesday 7th April 1841: Richard Hulbert respectully informs his patrons and the public generally, that the malicious report that he is about to leave the Lamb Hotel and Commercial Inn, Cheltenham, (invented, it is presumed by some wily oppenent,) has no foundations whatever in truth, and trusts that he shall be still favoured with that extensive patronage that it has been his good fortune to experience for the last four years.

Cheltenham Examiner, Wednesday 19th July 1843: Lamb Inn, High Street, Cheltenham: Now in the occupation of Mr Richard Hulbert, whose lease expires at Michaelmas, (1844?) in substantial and excellent condition with the Range of Building, extending nearly 400 feet back into Albion Street, and comprises brew house, tap, stables, coach houses, and at the top thereof a well-accustomed liquor shop.

 

Hi Geoff,

 
As you know from previous emails, the George Hotel Tap aka the George Inn was at 101 Albion Street, the Turf Tavern later the Albion Inn was right next door at 100 (albeit not as early), and then at 99 was the Lamb Tap aka The Lamb & Lark and the Lamb Vaults or Lamb Hotel Vaults. 
 
You have a landlord listed for the Lamb Hotel for 1830, but the earliest reference I could find to its tap house was in a newspaper report from April 1856 – so it certainly existed by then, and seems well-established. The report is from the Cheltenham Mercury, reporting on a court case brought before “Wm. Tarit, Esq.”; and it gives an enlightening account of a contemporary day ‘on the lash’ which ended with a charge of robbery. I’ll quote it quite extensively because it is a gem and mentions several other pubs near the centre of Cheltenham too.
 
“Ann Jones, 27, lodging at 53, Rutland Street, was charged with stealing a silver watch, on the 14th instant, the property of Thomas Wright, of Withington, gardener. The prisoner, who is a prostitute, accompanied the prosecutor to various public houses, and in proceeding from the Greyhound [which at the time would have been close to Boots corner in North Street, which was also known as Greyhound Lane] to the Newmarket Inn [which was on the south side of what is now St. Margaret’s Road, in then Market Place, behind the market to the west of what is now Bennington Street], the prisoner possessed herself of the watch on the pretence of comparing it with one belonging to Miss Young. He allowed her to keep the watch, and went with her to her residence, and had some tea; after that they went to the Lamb & Lark, thence to the Bath Hotel [across on the north side of Albion Street, almost opposite], at each of which places they had something to drink. At the Birmingham House [in Church Street, behind what is now the Two Pigs] they had 3 pints of beer and 2 bottles of porter; Newmarket House, 2 glasses of gin-and-water, and he had 3 glasses of port; Lamb and Lark 3 pints of beer, paid for by prisoner; Bath Hotel a glass of whiskey; Greyhound, 2 glasses of gin-and-water.” 
 
I make that 6 pints of beer, 4 gins, 2 bottles of porter and 1 glass of whiskey! It concludes…
 
“Mr. Chesshyre appeared for the prisoner, and submitted that the charge of robbery was not proved. The bench dismissed the case.”
 
I’m surprised they could still walk! But I think the Lamb & Lark is a wonderful name for a pub.
 
In terms of landlords listed in directories,  found the following:
 
1872 Charles Ward (Royal) Lamb tap
 
1876 J. Hawkins (Royal) Lamb tap
 
1878 Mrs. Caroline Greening (Royal) Lamb tap
 
1880-1 Mrs. Harriet Turner (Post Office Directory) Lamb tap
 
1883-4 A. Archer )Post Office Directory “Lamb Hotel tap and livery stables”
 
1891-2 N. Griffin Lamb Hotel tap
 
1902 & 1903 (Built-Leonard) Lamb tap listed under Albion Street, but no name
 
1904 A. Blofeld (Built-Leonard) listed for Lamb tap 99 Albion Street (also proprietor of Lamb Hotel)
 
1911 J. Salis (Built-Leonard) listed for Lamb tap 99 Albion Street (proprietor of Lamb Hotel listed as Charles C. Craddock)
 
1913 & 1914 Mr. C.H. Harcourt (Looker-On) listed for Lamb tap 99 Albion Street
 
1915 Mr. R.G. Featherstone (Looker-On) as above
 
1922, 1924 & 1925 J. Ball (Built-Leonard) in 1925 listed for the Lamb Hotel Vaults
 
1927 Mrs. Lindsey (Built-Leonard) as above but listed as “manageress” – also 1929 & 1931-1934
 
1935 – 1939  John A. Connelly (Kelly’s) listed for Lamb Vaults in 1939 the numbering changed from 99 to 25
 
1940 – 1950 Wm. Geo. Fredk. [William George Frederick] Lytheer (Kelly’s)
 
1952 Mrs. Lytheer (Kwlly’s)
 
The Lamb Vaults closed along with the Lamb Hotel in 1955 (bought to build Marks & Spencers).
 
Cheers,
 
Alan Jones
 

Landlords / Proprietors of the Lamb Hotel include:

1830 John Skane

1841,1844 Richard Hulbert

1856 Timothy Wooster

1859 Charles Scott

1871,1878 Charles Ward (aged 44 in 1871 and married to Sarah Ward 42)

1883,1891 James Connor

1902 Charles Ward

1903 Alfred Guest Blofeld

1906 Thomas Bach

1919 Feas Drew

1926 James Clark

1927 John Ball

1939-c1955 George and Helen Lytheer

Hi Geoff,

I’m currently researching Timothy Wooster who was the landlord of the Lamb Hotel in Cheltenham between 1856 and 1859 and found an entry on your website regarding this establishment. Timothy, as I’m rapidly discovering, was something of a colourful character! He was described in the various documents as a seedsman and commercial traveller, originally from Exeter. I don’t know why he was in Cheltenham, but he married Richard Hulbert’s widow Harriette in 1855. Richard died in December 1853 and I would assume Harriette ran the hotel, possibly with Timothy’s help until they married in 1855. The 1851 census shows Richard and Harriette at the Lamb with their five children, 11 staff who were living in and seven guests, so quite a big operation.

Onto Timothy Wooster now, and he and Harriette had one child of their own, Caroline Wooster, born in 1856. Timothy spent much time in prison as he was convicted of various fraudulent activities, mostly it seems with regard to writing fraudulent cheques. In 1857 he was declared bankrupt and in 1859, which I note from your website, is when the Charles Scott took over the hotel, Timothy was sentenced to six months hard labour for such a fraud, trading as an alias James Dickson at Reading. In 1860 he was sentenced to 8 months hard labour at Dorchester for theft and then in September of 1863 he bigamously married widow Margaret Atkinson in Morpeth, Northumberland under the alias of Thomas Wilson!

Harriette divorced him in 1871 and it seems she and daughter Caroline Wooster lived out their lives in Kent, Harriette reverting to her first married name of Hulbert, but Caroline remaining as Caroline Wooster.

I haven’t yet found out when Timothy died and it might prove something of a challenge with all these aliases. I’m writing the article for our July newsletter and there is no doubt much more to discover, the British Newspaper Archive being awash with reports about Timothy and his activities!

Regards,

Nick Wooster (Webmaster, The Wooster Family Group)

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