Craven Arms, 58 Craven Street
| Alternative Addresses: | 65 Craven Street, Lord Street | ||
Chapelfields was laid out on land belonging to Sir Thomas White's charity. Among the trustees of the charity at that time was the Earl of Craven, who owned Coombe Abbey, on the opposite side of the city.
The building of Chapelfields started in 1846, yet the earliest reference I have to the Craven Arms in in 1872, when the licensee, Joseph Evans, was fined for keeping the house open at an unlawful hour. From 1926 to 1929 the pub is advertising 'Johnson & Mason's Three Star Whiskey, Flowers celebrated Stratford Ales'. In 1982 it is described as a 'very friendly local. Excellent cocktails make for a special occassion'.
I remember the landlady of the time, Hazel Clifford, and her cocktails! In 1985 the outside toilets were moved indoors, whilst the multi roomed interior was knocked into one large room, incorporating what had been the next door house. In 2013 the pub was closed for a while during a dispute between the landlord and the owners, Enterprise Inns, over a rent rise. It re-opened shortly later with a new licensee.The name of this pub comes from the Earls of Craven who were local landowners, their seat being the nearby Coombe Abbey. It is said that the Earls of Craven used the kitchen of the original Craven Arms to collect rent from their tenants. | |||
LICENSEES:1872 - 1879 Joseph Evans 1879 - 1898 Frederick Henry Smith 1903 - 1925 Joseph Price 1926 - 1940 F. Baker 1982 Hazel Clifford 1982 - 1985 Robert Pritchard | |||
OWNERS:1878 Philipp Cohen, Chapel Fields, Coventry 1898 Flowers & Son, Stratford on Avon 2012 Enterprise Inns | |||
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