Thomas Bailey was the owner of the Nags Head in 1891 and he leased the pub, licensed as a beer house, to Arnold, Perrett & Co’s Wickwar Brewery. The annual rateable value was then £12.0s.0d. In 1903 Thomas Bailey had sold the pub to Ind Coope & Co., of Burton on Trent. The rateable value per year had increased to £17.0s.0d. Upon the acquisition of the Nags Head the front façade was modified and the inscription ‘Celebrated Burton Ind Coope & Co. Ales & Stout’ were added in lettering above the ground floor.
Gloucester Citizen, 14th February 1894: Northgate Brewery, Gloucester: Builders desirous of tending for certain alterations proposed to be carried out the Nags Head, Newent, for Messrs Hatton & Co., can see copies of drawings and specifications of the architect, Walter B. Wood, 12 Queen Street, Gloucester, and also at the Nags Head, Newent, on or after Saturday 1oth February between the hours of 10 and 5.
The tenders to be sent to Messrs Hatton & Co., Northgate Brewery, Gloucester on or before Monday, February 19th, sealed up and endorsed ‘Tenders for alterations at the Nags Head, Newent’. Messrs Hatton & Co. do not pledge themselves to accept the lowest or any tender.
The Nags Head appears to have ceased trading during the First World War. In 1932 the building was in use as premises for the Newent Women’s Institute and the distinctive Ind Coope signage had either been removed or covered over. For many generations of Newent families the building will be remembered as being a bank. Barclays Bank closed on November 19th 2017. The Grade II listed property was put on the market for £279,000 with the sale particulars stating that the building dated back to the 17th Century and was ideal for development with a courtyard garden in a prominent town centre location. An application was submitted to Forest of Dean District Council in August 2018 for the conversion of the former bank in Broad Street to five self-contained flats.
I wonder if the refurbishment of the exterior of the building and the removal of the Barclays branding revealed the long-lost ‘Celebrated Burton Ind Coope & Co’ sign?
Landlords at the Nags Head include:
1880 Emma Tyler
1891 Julia Smith
1903 Thomas Edwards
