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PUBS The last surviving licensed premises in
the parish is The Racehorse Inn. In Victorian times the primary pub in the area was The Ring o’ Bells. In 1840 The New Inn was recorded at
Congdon’s Shop. In 1872, also at Congdon’s Shop, was The White Hart. Later,
again at Congdon’s Shop, was The Temperance Inn. Were these all the same
premises with changing names? The Farmer’s Inn was halfway up the
hill from Berrio Bridge heading towards Way Cross. |
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The Racehorse Inn opened its doors for the first time in
August 1966. Previously it had been the village school (see map below) but
that had closed as the number of children in the village declined and the
Church Commissioners decided that the school was no longer viable. Bill
Budge, sadly no longer with us but a long term resident in the parish,
acquired the premises and converted the school building to what we can see
today. Bill’s father was a keen horseman and race-goer. He named
Bill after a winning horse named ‘Billy’ and in turn Bill named the pub in
memory of his father. The horseracing theme continues in the pub to this day. |
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The Ring o’ Bells is shown on this 1883 map. From David Coombe’s
website we learn: “The first mention
found of a Coumbe innkeeper is Edward Coumbe (1754-1830), brother of John the stone mason, who
was described as such upon the 1804 death of his first wife. The innkeeping and coopering continued with his second wife
Jane (c. 1779-1850), their son James Coumbe (1810-1851),
his son George Coumbe (1836-1900), his daughter
Mary Ann Cowling Jewell nee Coumbe, b. 1864 and her
husband William H Jewell … Their inn
was known as the "Ring o’ Bells", which is marked as such on old
maps. It is now a private dwelling, following relocation of the modern
brewery to Launceston. “According to the
later brewery, “the Ring o’ Bells started trading in the 13th century as a
cider farm come alehouse for the stonemasons of St Torney
Church, North Hill. The Ring o’ Bells closed in 1918 after an orgy of
violence”. It would be interesting to find the
evidence for the Ring o’ Bells starting in the 13th century. We do
know that the first rector of St Torney’s was in
place in 1269AD. There are some later stories which can be read in these
cuttings: |
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1846 Robbery at the Ring o’ Bells. Local
butcher, Dingle, displays remarkable powers. |
1867 Auction of Timber held at the Ring
o’ Bells |
1869 Accident at Ring o’ Bells |
1916 Fatality and the Ring o’ Bells is
implicated |
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The robbery in 1846 was perpetrated by Thomas Conboy, John Hogan and John Oram. They were all subsequently transported to Van
Diemen’s land for their crimes. Click on their names to read the stories of
their lives as researched by Trish Symons who has agreed to share it with us. |
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The New Inn was at Congdon’s Shop. In 1840 the auction of Treswell was held at the New Inn. Click on the cutting to read more. Was this the building that later became The Temperance Inn,
pictured below? |
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The White
Hart The White Hart was at Congdon’s Shop. In 1872 an auction
was held there and lands at Trewithey and Trefursdon were sold. Could this have been the Temperance Inn, shown above under
the section on The New Inn? |
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The Farmer’s Inn was on the southern side of the hill from Berrio to Way Cross. The building is still there and can
be easily identified from the green porch which fronts the B3254. It is now a
private residence. The first known
landlord was John Couch who was born in North Hill in 1795. His first wife,
Ann, had died in 1838 leaving him with two children, Jane who was nine and
Sampson who was seven. John married Ruth Whear in 1840 and the family lived
in Trebartha Cottages. John was the butler at Trebartha Hall at the time. At
some point in the 1840s he gave up his servant days and moved into the
property which was to become known as the “The Farmer’s Inn”. The house and
garden were part of the Trebartha Estate and were owned by Francis Rodd who
was was John’s previous employer.
Ruth died in
1848 and in the 1851 census John was living at the Farmer’s Inn with his
daughter Jane and his niece, Sally. Jane married a Callington man in 1854,
Thomas Prout a mine agent who had previously been a tea dealer. At some point in the late 1850s Thomas
became the licensee and John died in
1868 and the 1871 shows that Thomas, Jane and their five children were still
living in The Farmer’s Inn but Thomas earned his living as a miner. It seems,
therefore that in the intervening period the business closed down. No further
trace has been found of Thomas and Jane Prout or their children, namely John
(b1854), Thomas (b1857), Ann (b1860), Goerge (b1862), Emily (b1865), William
(b1867) and Herbert (b1870). It seems that they may have joined the many
thousands who emigrated from Cornwall in the 1870s to seek a new life in
Australia, the USA or another emerging nation. Jane’s brother, Sampson, had
emigrated to Marquette in Michigan in the late 1850s and they may have
followed him. Can you tell us any more about the Prout family? John Couch
(1795-1868) had a brother Richard Couch and in the 1881 census the Farmers
Inn was occupied by Richard’s son, also named John ran a grocery and drapery
business from there. This was short lived, however, and by 1891 John had
taken his grocery business to Boscastle. In 1901 The
Farmer’s Inn was home to Charles Jones, a retired miller, and his wife Jessy
(nee Buckingham) and their two daughters. |
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The image at the top of this page shows
the sign of the Racehorse Inn. The other two
signs are not from the two premises described on this page, but do offer an
introduction. |
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©2018 NORTH HILL LOCAL HISTORY GROUP | Berrio Brook, Berrio Bridge, North Hill, Launceston, Cornwall PL15 7NL | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. |
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