Pubs & Past Times in Historic Boston

The Stump & Candle

The Stump & Candle, located off Boston’s busy Market Place, is currently named after the town’s famous church, known locally as the Stump. But this is just the most recent of many names for the pub in this spot, including the Angel & Foxe and Martha’s Vineyard.

A much older timber-framed house formerly occupied the site (bottom right engraving). In 1517, it was the birthplace of famous Tudor historian John Foxe, the author of Foxe's Book of Martyrs. The building’s connection to John Foxe is commemorated today with a blue plaque in his honour. The house then became the Bell Inn in the 18th century.

From 1833 into the 1970s, it was called the Rum Puncheon. This curious name is a reference to Boston's maritime origins, as a puncheon was a type of large, 70 gallon (318 litre) wine or spirit barrel. In the early days, rum does seem to have been the main drink sold. In 1837, the Rum Pucheon’s 'spirit merchant and proprietor' Richard Westland was convicted of watering down 7 gallons of rum ahead of the festivities of Boston's May Fair, and in 1854, a 'squib of rum' cost 1 ½ pence.

The pub has also been a venue for local societies. The Musical Society met there weekly in the 1830s and even installed an organ in the pub for its purposes. Meetings about political reform were also held in the upstairs room, as were meetings of the Athenaeum, Boston's scientific and literary society before they built their own premises.

The White Horse on West Street

This former pub, which appeared in Kelly's Directory of 1861, was operated by Soames Brewery until its license was surrendered and it was sold in 1957. Unfortunately, the building was demolished in 1958, and it was replaced by the Dunelm building.

Luckily, the statue of a white horse that was located above the entrance to the pub survived demolition.

The Jolly Crispin

We don't know a lot about the history of the Jolly Crispin. The earliest mention of the pub is in the Boston Guardian in October 1863, when a police officer discovered that "two suspicious-looking characters" had been hawking nickel silver and electro-plate tea, dessert and table spoons, other cutlery and nutcrackers at the Jolly Crispin and other places around town. The Jolly Crispin is still open and operating as a pub today. Can you spot the dog having a snooze in front of the pub?

The pub may be named after Saint Crispin, who was martyred in AD285. He and his brother were Roman Christian missionaries in Gaul (France). Saint Crispin is the patron saint of shoemakers. The pub sign (which has been removed) appears to have shown a cobbler.

The White Horse on White Horse Lane

Whitehorse Lane gets its name from the White Horse Pub, which once stood on the south side of the lane where it joins High Street. It is first mentioned as the 'sign of the White Horse' in 1564 and was occupied as a public house until 1680 when the license was removed to Furthend Lane.

This image is a copy of an engraving of an 18th or 19th century drawing of the old White Horse pub by T. Bolton and J.J. Noble.

Crown & Anchor

This lost pub used to stand on the quayside along Boston's bustling High Street. The building was demolished in 1968 in order to widen the access to industrial buildings that stood behind it, and now, all that remains is a large cast iron pub sign, which is listed. A plaque beside the cast-iron sign records that in the 1700s, the Crown & Anchor was once home to George Bass, the naval surgeon and explorer who discovered the Bass Strait (after whom it is named), which separates Tasmania from Australia. But the building with the sign and the plaque is not the original Crown & Anchor!

The original Crown & Anchor had been an old, much larger coaching inn a few doors down at No. 16 High Street (large, grey building in the center of bottom right image), which thankfully still stands. In 1795, the new landlord, William Holden, advertised that he had taken over what was then the Crown Inn in Skirbeck Quarter, appealing to "merchants, captains, and the public in general" that he had a "stock of good old wines, liquors etc."

It was Holden who commissioned the sign that still bears his name, and he who added the anchor, perhaps to appeal to the sailors he sought as customers. The sign itself was made in the new foundry opened in Boston that same year by William Howden, a Scottish engineer who had been involved in drainage schemes in the Fens. Their names are so similar as to wonder if Howden might not have had a sideline as a publican.

In 1804, Holden, who is described as a coal dealer, went bankrupt. His property, described as "quay, wharfs, granaries, stables etc… the whole forming, in addition to the Inn, a complete mercantile situation, where business to a very considerable extent has been for several years carried on", as well as 6 tiny one-up-one-down cottages in the yard beyond the stables, passed into the hands of creditors.

A few years later, Holden advertised that he had taken back possession of the inn, as he had scraped together the capital to pay off the creditors and made his final repayment in 1808. Years later, in 1891, the old Crown & Anchor was sold. The cast-iron sign seems to have moved with the license and is shown mounted on the side of the building when it belonged to Soames Brewery.

Hussey Tower

Hussey Tower was built around 1460 by Richard Bennington, who was the collector of taxesand Justice of the Peace in Boston. Constructed of brick, it is an example of early brick use in the town. Hussey Tower takes its name from Lord Hussey, who was favoured by King Henry VIII until his execution in 1539 for his failure to quell the Lincolnshire Uprising (also known as the Pilgrimage of Grace) in 1536. Following his execution the site was sold to the Boston Corporation and dismantled in the years following 1545; the tower is the only remaining structure of what would have been a large residential complex.

The tower is now located in between a 21st century housing development and the fields of Boston Grammar School; the latter is recorded by Thompson as being pasture once belonging to the Hussey estate.  Hussey Tower is cared for by the Heritage Trust of Lincolnshire and more information about the site can be found on their website. 

The Woad Man

Built in 1955, this modern style pub was one of the last to be built by Soames before their closure in 1957. It was built to serve the new Woad Farm Council Estate built by the Boston Corporation that same year. This was part of a postwar building boom as older houses in the town centre, thought of as 'slums' were cleared, and Boston began to expand into the countryside.

In 1953, Boston had 1,043 applications for council housing, and 136 for old people's bungalows. The council set about plans for the new estate, which would include 750 houses as well as "the necessary community buildings, such as a public house, a church, shops, and recreational facilities… and in agreement with [Holland] County Council for schools." And so the Woad Man was built as a hub for the new community, and it was well used, hosting parties and events for families.

The curious name, which is believed to be unique in England, comes from the local woad growing industry. Woad is a plant related to mustard with yellow flowers, but when processed can produce a vibrant blue dye. It was grown across Lincolnshire in Elizabethan times, but by the 18th and 19th century had become a speciality of the Holland area, with tall timber drying sheds a common feature in the landscape around Boston into the early 20th century (shown in bottom right photo).

In recent years the pub's sign showed a rather different interpretation of its name. Rather than a woad man as a local farmer, it had an image of a 'Celtic' warrior brandishing a sword and covered in swirling blue woad paint. Woad has been found in the archaeological record at the Iron Age settlement at Dragonby near Scunthorpe, but archaeologists think it may have been used for dye rather than as body paint.

The building is still standing, but unfortunately, the pub has closed.

The Gliderdrome & the Football Stadium

The Gliderdrome was opened as an open-air skating rink in the 1930s. A roof was added during WWII to protect it from bombing. It as around this time that it became a popular dance venue, especially for American servicemen stationed in the area. It was rebuilt within a year after being destroyed by fire in 1959.

Between 1960 and 1973, the Gliderdrome played host to dozens of international musicians, including The Small Faces, T Rex, The Kinks, Elton John, The Who, Status Quo, Slade, Dusty Springfield, Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder, Hot Chocolate, Thin Lizzy, and The Electric Light Orchestra. Even the Beatles were booked at the venue, but were cancelled by the promoter because they were not very well known yet! Before John Adams Way was built in the 1980s, the queues to get into the super popular venue stretched down Shodfriars Lane into the market place!

The football stadium is home to Boston United F.C., also known as the Pilgrims in reference to the Pilgrims who travelled to North America and founded Boston, MA. The York Street Stadium has since been replaced by a new stadium which is being built to the south-west of the town.

Magnet Tavern

This two-storey pub was built around 1750. Its location close to the former quay would suggest that it was a regular haunt of the local shipping men and traders on the Witham. It was owned and run by the Soames brewery in the mid-20th century, and is still open.

Boston Guildhall

Boston's wealth in the medieval period was partially due to the trade and business of the Guild of St Mary, an internationally significant religious fraternity that was founded in Boston (one of the most important ports in medieval England) in 1260. Men and, surprisingly, women could join the guild by paying a gold coin fee and annual subscription. The merchants made the bulk of their fortunes by trading wool.

Built in the 1390s, almost immediately after the Crown gave approval for guilds to own land and property, the Boston Guildhall shows just how wealthy and influential the Guild of St. Mary was, as at the time Boston's power as a centre of trade was second only to London. It is also the oldest brick building in Boston, using locally dug clay and hiring Flemish brick makers to build the building. This was much cheaper and faster than using the more traditional materials of timber and stone.

St Mary's Guild was active until the guilds were dissolved in 1545 during the reign of King Henry VIII, after which Boston was incorporated. Some of the religious aspects of the guild survived until the strict Protestant regime and the second Act for the Dissolution of Chantries of Edward VI was implemented in 1547. The guild dissolved completely and had their property confiscated by the King. Under the new Boston Corporation, many of its aldermen and councillors (former officials of the guild) were able to get some of the properties back, including the guildhall, in 1555.

The Guild of St Mary liked to entertain and hosted many dinners and feasts in the hall. Records of a 1515 feast to celebrate Corpus Christi show that the Guild spent £20 on the meal, which is equivalent to approximately £10,000 today. The menu included: swan, turkey, bustard, pheasant pie, stews, roast pig, quail, and sweet treats of jellies and sugared fruit. This was all presented with great theatrics, like covering the cooked birds in their feathers and animals being served whole with steam or smoke coming out of their nostrils to make them look alive! All this would be washed down with vast amounts of ale and wine.

In the 600 or so years since it was built, the Guildhall has served many functions. It has been the meeting place of the Guild of St Mary, the town council, the Court of Sewers, the Charity Commissioners, and other important bodies. The guildhall has remained an important part of civic life in Boston. The hall has also been used as a courthouse, prison, workshop, dance hall, a National Kitchen during WWI, and British Restaurant during WWII (community dining halls).

A small museum, with just a few cabinets and paintings, opened in the Guildhall in 1929. This collection grew through donations and was run by volunteers for decades until being officially recognised and hiring a curator in the 1980s. The building needed major restoration work and it closed for 7 years in 2001. The entire roof was removed and repaired, and restoration and sympathetic modernisation was carried out throughout the rest of the building.  The Boston Guildhall reopened in 2008, and the museum now tells the history of the building and Boston. 

Blackfriars

Named after the black robes worn by the Dominican Friars, Blackfriars is a stone-built structure dating to the 13th century. The oldest written record of the building dates to 1288 when it was noted that the friary was rebuilt following a fire. In 1300, the friary housed 29 friars. At its peak, the friary consisted of a church, preaching yard, cloister, refectory, chapter house, schoolroom, library, guest house and priors lodgings which extended to the boundary of St Mary’s Guildhall to the south! Unfortunately, the order declined in popularity in the 15th century and the religious reformation of the 16th century closed the friary. Over the following centuries, much of the friary was dismantled and the building materials reused elsewhere.

The refectory, all that remains of the friary, was used as a warehouse for corn (Boston’s largest export in the 18th century), and in 1966, opened as the repurposed  Blackfriars theatre and community arts centre . The theatre is said to be haunted by the ghost of a friar, who hides objects left behind by theatre-goers under the stage.

Shodfriars Hall

Shodfriars Hall is a Grade II* listed building dating to about 1400, with 17th century alterations, and extensions and restoration work done by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1873. It is named after the Shodfriars, a group of friars who wore shoes (or were 'shod'). It is a 3 storey, timber-framed building with lath and plaster nogging, and red brick. Much of what is visible today dates to the work done in 1873, when a large, red brick extension in European Gothic style was built to the rear of the original building. This extension was added so the building could be used as a club room for the Conservative Club, a shop, office and grand hall and theatre.

Today, Shodfriars is used as a cafe, which serves delicious coffee and cakes!

Masonic Hall

Built in an Egyptian Revival style between 1860 and 1863, this purpose-built Masonic Hall looks a little out of place in the centre of Boston! The hieroglyphs on the front translate to 'In the 23rd year of the reign of Her Majesty the Royal Daughter Victoria, Lady Most Gracious, this building was erected. May it be prosperous'.

The design was based on the Temple of Dendur (bottom right photo), which was commissioned by Augustus, the 1st Roman Emperor, around 15 BCE and was built along the edge of the Nile in Nubia. Augustus may have had the temple built as a propaganda tool for the new Roman rule in the region, as the temple was dedicated to two sons of a local Nubian lord and the Egyptian goddess Isis. Perhaps Augustus was trying to show the locals that they could keep some of their own cultural and religious practices while still becoming Romans. In the 1960s, the Temple of Dendur was under threat of destruction as the area where it was located was due to be flooded to create a dam. A massive international campaign, organised by UNESCO, was able to save and relocate 22 temples from the flood zone. The Temple is now located in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.  Click here for a short video about the Temple's move to the US. 

The Whale Inn

This attractive but unassuming pub was demolished in the 1970s to make way for John Adams Way. Many pubs can boast a few old curios on their walls, but the Whale had its own private museum!

The star attraction was, believe it or not, the skeleton of a whale! This unfortunate animal was captured in the Boston Deeps in 1847, and Richard Ball, landlord of the Bricklayer's Arms, seized on the opportunity to bring in extra business. By the time of the May Fair in 1848, he had erected a special building to house the 53 foot long skeleton, which he arranged "with anatomical precision and artistical skill". Visitors were invited to "enter the jaws and pass beneath the massive vertebrae of this huge Inhabitant of the Northern Deep." As well as the 'whale room' (admission sixpence) were rooms described as 'the museum' and 'the grotto'.

The museum preserved a host of objects salvaged from Boston's history, including a sedilia (a group of stone seats for clergy) from the town's lost medieval hospital of St John the Baptist, 9 gargoyles, 5 gothic pinnacles, a medieval font, part of a column, a room full of old Dutch tiles, and the gibbet from Boston prison.

Although the skeleton of the whale was sold in 1875 to become an attraction on a 'museum ship' on the sands in Skegness, much of the rest of the collection survived until the pub was finally demolished in 1974. The demolition took place despite a local campaign to save it and the intricate shell decorations in its grotto. What happened to the rest of the collection remains a mystery.

John Adams Way

Boston's townscape was dramatically altered in 1978 by with the construction of the inner relief road, John Adams Way. Medieval roads such as High Street and South Street were truncated, and the former medieval burgage pattern on South Street (which had been largely preserved until this time) was disrupted. Victorian and Georgian buildings were demolished, including the 19th century residential development around Cheyney Street and Liquor Pond Street. The two maps to the right show the path of John Adams way in purple overlaid on maps of Boston from 1741 and 1888. You can see how much of the town was demolished to make way for the roadway, and how much this changed the town.

The road was named after John Adams (1735-1826), the 2nd president of the United States and the 1st American Ambassador to Britain. John Adams is one of three Founding Fathers who never owned slaves or used slave labour.

Maud Foster Mill

The Maud Foster Mill was built in 1819 and is a 7 storey, 5 sail windmill located along the Maud Foster drain, and the Maud Foster is one of the largest operating windmills in the UK! The 'Maud Foster' is said to be named after an enterprising woman whose land was cut through for the new drain in 1586. She gave permission for the drain on the condition that it was named after her. 

The mill was built for Thomas and Issac Reckitt by the Norman & Smithson millwrights. The Reckitt brothers added a bakehouse in the 1820s it was sold several times and remained in operation until 1948 when mechanical issues made the windmill unusable. Some trade continued using electric machinery, but the mill closed in the 1950s and fell into disrepair.

The mill was purchased by the Waterfield family in 1987 and they set about getting the mill back into working order. The mill underwent extensive repairs and restoration, including re-laying all the floors and installing new trapdoors, grain bins, millstone cases, and balcony doors and windows. They also replaced 3 of the sails and the fantail, repaired the cap and roof, and fixed all the machinery. The Maud Foster mill officially re-opened and began to operate again on July 22, 1988.

The Maud Foster mill is still in operation today, and on days with enough wind, the mill is busy grinding wheat. It is also open as a visitor attraction and you can climb to the very top of the mill and see flour being made. The Waterfield family also run a mill shop, where you can buy flour, oats, and other souvenirs, and they have a holiday let on site.  More information about the history of the Maud Foster Mill and how it works can be found on their website.  

King William IV

The pub's opening day is not known, but we do know that William Farrington of Butterwick was running the pub in 1852. It was owned by Soames Brewery in the first half of the 20th century, before being sold to Batemans Brewery in May 1957. It was run as a pub until the late 1990s when it took on a new life as the Boston Mosque & Islamic Centre.

The black and white photo on the bottom right shows the King William IV on the right side with the Maud Foster mill on the left across the Maud Foster drain.

Unicorn Inn

Not much is known about the history of the Unicorn Inn. The pub appears in Kelly's Directory of 1861, although the date on the building is circa 1870.

In November 1929, police accidentally discovered 'party drinking' after midnight at the inn - likely the result of an after-hours lock-in!

Witham Tavern

There are references to a Witham Tavern being licenced in 1765, although this presumably refers to an earlier building on this site as the current building dates to the early 19th century.The opening of the pub corresponds to the construction of the Grand Sluice and the pub likely would have been the local haunt of the men working to straighten the Witham.

Goodbarns Yard (formerly the Wormgate Inn)

The current building dates to the late 18th century, but there has been a pub at this location since at least the 16th century when there is a reference to an establishment called the Dog & Duck. It was originally the haunt of boatmen from Dog-dyke.