Harry Warner was brewing beer at the Norwood whilst he was landlord. An old photograph of an electric tram trundling up the Leckhampton Road shows a wall at the side of the pub with the words ‘Norwood Brewery’.
The Norwood Arms is still trading. Over the years it has been extensively altered and modernised.
R.S. Kearsey was the owner of the Norwood Arms in 1891 and (he) ran it free from brewery tie, although there was probably a small brewery (Harry Warner) attached to the premises. Cheltonians will remember the name Kearsey in connection with a family bus & coach business which was acquired by Marchants coaches. Perhaps R.S. Kearsey was a descendant of that family.
The annual rateable value in 1891 was £23.15s.0d. and the Norwood was a licensed ale house. The aforementioned Harry Warner is definitively listed as a brewer and owner / occupier in the 1903 licensing returns, although the Norwood was still a ‘free house’. The annual rateable value had increased substantially by thirty-five pounds and fifteen shillings from 1891 to 1903 to £59.10s.0d. which tends to suggest that substantial improvements and reconstruction to larger premises had taken place.
The Norwood is now owned by the Greene King Pub and Brewery Company.
Landlords at the Norwood Arms include:
1830 William Burrows
1859 James Chandler
1870 Henry Vines
1878 Joseph Vines
1885,1891,1903 Harry Warner
1919 Richard W. Mason
1926,1939 Percy Kilmister
1998 Clare Fern
