Pub Signs in
Knowsley
& Surrounding Areas
This page represents the
hard work and enthusiasm of the late Reg Lowe. The
information and photos here have been put together thanks to
Reg's wife, Judy Lowe. Click here to read
more about the Pub Signs Project (and the article
The Development of
Inn Signs).
The Kingfisher Arms, Kirkby |
The Sun Inn, Prescot
The Wellington, Prescot |
The Rocket, Rainhill
The Wheatsheaf, Rainford | The
Victoria, Rainhill
The Black Horse, Rainhill |
The Deanes House, Prescot
The Crown, Prescot | The Coach and Horses, Rainhill
Child of Hale, Hale | Bird i'th Hand, St Helens
Bath Springs, Prescot | The Clock Face, Prescot
The Grapes, Eccleston Park | Manor Farm, Rainhill
The Railway, Kirkby | Hope and Anchor, Prescot
Carters Arms, Kirkby | Bottle and Glass, Rainford
The Old Mill, Prescot |
The Kingfisher Arms, Kirkby
Bird signs
were never very common in England, the Cock and Swan being
exceptions. However in recent years they have become more
widespread.
The
Kingfisher is a beautiful bird and one can only guess that
in earlier times may have frequented this area. There
probably are no longer many kingfishers left in the area but
it is a pleasant reminder of the past.
The Sun Inn, Prescot
The name Sun and Rising Sun
are ancient and with Pagan rather than Christian origins and
like signs showing other heavenly bodies are numerous. The
Sun represented Apollo and was popular as it was easy to
portray.
It continued as popular
name as it was the badge of Edward III. The sun is, of
course the source of light to the world as well as heat and
light so there is little wonder that it is popular as a pub
sign
Many an innkeeper of old
advertised "The best beer under the sun."
The early uses of the
Sun as a pub name made use of a simple visual sign
showing a circle with a few rays around it, and often a
filled in with eyes, a nose and a mouth. However this modern
design shows an elaborately painted and ornate sun.
The
Wellington, Prescot
The
Duke of Wellington leads the field among soldiers on signs.
There is a Wellington, Hero of Waterloo, Iron Duke or Duke
of Wellington in almost every town in the country.
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769 – 1852) was a
British national hero after his defeat of Napoleon I at
Waterloo, 1825.
He had earlier had a distinguished military career in India
and Spain. Between 1828 and 1830 he was Prime Minister and
later he was Foreign Secretary. His popularity may be judged
by the fact that he is mentioned on more English pub sings
except Nelson. He was known as the Iron Duke and is honoured
in that form on several signs.
The present Wellington stands on a very ancient site. The
earliest mention is in an Indenture of 1771 which refers to
"an ancient public house known as the Woolpack". It occupied
an important position at the crossroads known as "Four Lane
Ends". These were the roads from Prescot and Whiston
northwards towards Ormskirk and eastwards to Wigan.
Four Lane Ends was a self contained community, consisting of
a public house, brewery, smithy, wheelwrights shop, barn and
cottages.
After the Battle of Waterloo it became known as the Woolpack
and Duke of Wellington, and then it was shortened further to
just the Wellington. The old Wellington was burned down in
1936, but was rebuilt on the same site and reopened on 12th
May 1937, Coronation Day of George VI. Then on New years Day
1976 the celebrations came to an abrupt end when the cellar
caught fire.
There is a hanging sign of good quality of the Duke and a
stand in front of the pub with a rather more worn sign, also
of the Duke.
The Rocket,
Rainhill
This
pub was renamed in 1980 to celebrate the centenary of the
Rainhill Trials. The sign features the Rocket, which was the
winning engine in those trials.
The Trials were held in on a level stretch of track at
Rainhill in 1829 in order to decide the best kind of motive
power to be used on the Liverpool to Manchester railway
line.
Hundreds of people from far and near gathered to watch the
Perseverance entered by Burstall, the Novelty entered by
Braithwaite and Ericsson, the Rocket
entered
by George and Robert Stephenson and Henry Booth and the Sans
Pareil entered by Timothy Hackworth.
On 8th October the Rocket completed the test run of 70 miles
– the only contestant to do so – and was awarded the prize
of £500. A consolation prize of £25 was awarded to
Perseverance.
It was common, through the centuries that licensees to name
their pubs after notable events, objects and people. Thus
this fine picture illustrates one of the most famous engines
of all time.
The Rocket Pub has recently been refurbished and is sporting
a stylish sign of the engine. Both old and new sign are
pictured.
The Old Mill, Prescot
The
pub name Windmill, and derivates of it are very old signs.
The Old Mill in Prescot stands at the top of the hill where
one of the town’s ancient mills stood. In fact a mill had
stood at the highest point of the town on the east side Mill
Street since 1558. This area of the town was highly
populated and much of the local crop was ground there.
In 1552 this Mill was of post mill construction and in 1580
it is recorded that a malt horse-mill stood close to the
windmill and that both formed part of the hall estate
The sign is a delightful sign remembering a historic
building in what was a small market town.
The Deanes House,
Prescot
This
pub stands next to the Parish Church and is a conversion of
the house where the sisters of H, Cross, solicitor lived.
The pub, known as the legs of man stood alongside it.
The Deanes were a very old Rainhill family. During the
eighteenth century Edward Deane held 42 acres of land in
Rainhill and Cronton. When he died his estate past to his
sister, Alice, who married John Case of Prescot. Their
grandson, George Deane Case inherited the estate in the mid
nineteenth century and the estates in Rainhill and Cronton
became known as Deanes House Farm or estate.
The present sign shows a fairly good representation of the
building in the present day.
Still
to come...
The Red Lion Hotel,
Prescot
The Carters Arms, Kirkby
Stanley Arms, Eccleston
About
the Pub Signs Project
My husband, Reg Lowe, first
became interested in pub signs when we were holidaying with
some friends in the Cotswolds.
As many of you reading this
will know, there are many delightful pubs in that part of
the country and the majority of these have some beautifully
painted and historical signs to invite the customer inside.
During this visit to the Cotswolds, he bought a small
booklet entitled, "The History of Pub Signs".
That was the start of it.
Ever since then, until the time of his untimely death in
2000, the history and stories behind the signs we often take
for granted became his great interest. This, together with
his talent in photography, enabled him to take pictures of
the signs, investigate the stories behind the names and with
this enthusiasm and knowledge he became a popular speaker at
numerous society and group meetings.
Therefore, I decided that
in memory of Reg, who became Secretary of the Inn Sign
Society, to put together some photographs and words about
some of the knowledge he gathered over the years.
I begin locally; as I feel
information on these will be of greatest interest. However I
do hope that those people who know, maybe more, than I do,
and or, tales from the past will add their anecdotes to the
site. May be in time I will branch out and look at pub signs
from further a field.
Together with Reg's notes,
the books used to compile this information include:
Leslie Dunking & Gordon
Wright: A Dictionary of Pub Names
Eric R Delderfield: Introduction to Inn Signs
AW Coysh: Historic English Inns
ER Delderfield: British Inn Signs
Eric Delderfield: Stories of Inns and Their Signs
Paul Corballs: Pub Signs
Jacob Larwood & John Camden: English Inn Signs
Florence Dickenson: A History of Transport Through
Rainhill
Jack Knowles: Inns of Prescot and Whiston
R & F Dickenson: The Story of Rainhill
Judy Lowe,
March 2006
The Development of
Inn Signs
Inn signs have been a part
of the British countryside for many, many centuries. They
are reminders of when most people were unable to read or
write and trades people used signs to show their
occupations.
The spread of education,
however slowly led to the gradual demise of premises
displaying signs that is with the exception of inns, which
have continued to display signs to this day. Even now every
pub that is built is given a name and, very often, a
pictorial sign as well.
Many people have become
fascinated by inn signs because they often capture aspects
of past times serving as colourful and prominent reminders
of things and people of bygone eras.
Many of the oldest signs
have religious significance but reigning monarchs, current
modes of travel, popular heroes of the day, customs, sports,
great occasions and traditions have also been remembered on
inn signs.
The history of inn signs
dates back to Roman times, when they displayed ivy outside
their wine shops. Alehouses of the past were very similar to
every other house around them. Therefore in order to show
his trade the ale seller would set up an ale stake. This was
a long pole projecting from the front of the building. They
would perhaps decorate this with evergreen to attract
further attention.
In later times more
distinctive signs became popular.
It is some of these signs
that are to be shown and discussed in these pages. Local
signs and any stories that go along with them will be
reproduced and any comments, questions or stories are both
welcomed and encouraged.
