Bulls Head, 9 Bishop Street
| These premises have been known by different names during their history: | FROM | TO | NAME |
| 1754 | 1975 | Bulls Head | |
| 1975 | 1979 | Sign of the Zodiac | |
| 1979 | c1990 | Zodiac | |
Our first record of this pub is in 1754 when a letter was sent to Mrs Lightowler, near the Bulls Head in Bishop Street. In 1756 twelve soldiers were billeted here. In 1804 the Bull and Anchor was the meeting place of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Warwickshire (Freemasons).
This was a home-brew pub that was bought by the Leamington Brewery (that is, Lucas, Blackwell & Co) in c1886. The licensee between 1850 and 1861, Richard Morris, was also a malster, malting his own barley as well as brewing with it. In 1975 it became the SIGN OF THE ZODIAC. Bishop Street looking north 1905. The Bulls Head can be seen, third building on the left, behind the two chaps standing. An ancient and widespread sign which may have begun by referring to a Papal Bull, the leaden seal attached to the Pope's edicts. There may also be a heraldic reference in these signs. Many bull signs are also a reminder that bull-baiting took place. Some signs merely comment on the significance of this animal in farming terms. In nautical terms, a bull is a small keg and in earlier times another nautical expression was "to buill the cask". It meant to pour water into an empty cask, leave it for a while, then drink it. | |||
LICENSEES:1790 Widow Morris 1822 - 1823 W. Morris 1841 - 1846 Samuel Dalton 1850 - 1861 Richard Morris (also a maltster) 1868 - 1874 Samuel Morris 1879 - 1881 William Bowler 1886 Lucas, Blackwell & Co 1890 - 1891 G. Hanley 1893 - 1896 T. H. Sanders 1903 - 1905 A. Fennell 1909 - 1919 Albert George Atkins 1921 - 1934 A. A. Cooper 1935 - 1938 W. J. Watts 1939 - 1940 A. Barton c1952-53 Reg Nott (see Earlsdon Cottage) | |||
 Street plan of 1851 | |||
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