This pub stood at the bottom of Hearsall Common, just below the Beech Wood from which the present Beechwood Avenue takes its name.
In 1833 Joseph White, a regular at the pub, had his customary drink in the Hawthorn Tree, then went out to the Beech Wood and committed suicide. Surely the pub can't have been that bad! The inquest was held at the Hawthorn Tree, his local.
The hawthorn tree was a symbol of the house of Tudor, which came about when, in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth, Richard III was defeated and slain. During the battle the royal crown of England was lost or stolen. It was later found under a hawthorn bush by Lord Stanley, who placed it on Henry Tudor's head. Also the Romans considered that a hawthorn bush would act as a protection against scurvy. They placed hawthorn leaves in the cradles of their newly-born babies. |