Above postcard, circa 1900, kindly sent by Allan Ward.

Above photo, date unknown, supplied by the Lenham History Society.

Above postcard, 1919, kindly sent by Rory Kehoe. The sign on the central building says Ashford breweries and shows the buildings of the Chapman Brewery later the Lion Brewery.

Above Google image, May 2010 of former Brewery buildings

From the Maidstone Journal and Kentish Advertiser, Thursday 10 September 1896.

BEARSTEAD BREWSTER SESSIONS.

The superintendents report.

Superintendent Johnson presented his report on the licensed houses of the division. This showed that during the past year 3 licence holders have been convicted of offences against their licences, viz., Edward Collins, landlord of the "Bull," Lenham Heath; Alfred Walden, landlord of the "Greyhound" beer house, Wychling; and Alfred Roberts, landlord of the "Pig and Whistle," Boughton Malherbe. In the last case the licence had since been transferred.

From the Maidstone Journal and Kentish Advertiser, Thursday 10 September 1896.

Drunk.

Samuel Burbridge was charged with being drunk on licensed premises on the 3rd of April, at the "Bull Inn," Lenham Heath.

I.C. Hubbard prove the facts. He said that defendant was one of a party of five men who were found drunk on the "Bull" premises on Good Friday. The other men were convicted, but defendant absconded.

The Bench convicted, and imposed a fine of 5s. 12s. 4d. costs, or in default 7 days' hard labour.

From the the Lenham History Society accessed September 2020.

BULL HILL. By Henny Shotter.

The chicken and egg question:

If you are a relative newcomer to Lenham or Lenham Heath you might have wondered (as I did) where the name ‘Bull Hill’ comes from. Some of the ‘real’ locals might remember the Bull Inn. Did the road get its name from the pub or the pub its name from the road?

The research which we were able to carry out so far indicates that neither is true, and the road and the former inn got their name from....the bulls!

The Tithe map of 1839 (Copyright from the Kent Archives) shows several fields with the name of ‘Bull Field’. You might think that these fields were part of the land belonging to the Bull Inn. This could have been true before 1839, but the Tithe Schedule of 1839 shows these fields being owned by various owners.

Bullies:

Bulls have to be kept in their own field away from the cows in their enclosure as they are known to be ‘bullies’. They were prized
animals, not only for the quality of the herd of cattle but also for bull baiting. Bull baiting was a popular animal blood sport in the 16th and 17th century as was bear baiting, a tradition to which another Shepherd Neame pub in Lenham, ‘The Dog and Bear’, bears witness. There is by the way a ‘Bear Field’ on the Lenham Tithe Map. Bears were more expensive and difficult to come by, so bull baiting was more widespread.

Not far from Bull Hill, the former Bull Inn and the Bull Fields is another field which in the Tithe map of 1839 carries a name connected to the popularity of animal blood sports. There is little doubt that a field with the name ‘cockpit’ was an enclosure used for cock fighting. So, even if it is guess work, it doesn’t seem too far-fetched to conclude that the name ‘The Bull’ has a connection to bullbaiting.

Early Records.

The earliest record which we have so far of the Bull Inn is the Tithe Schedule. The then owner was Henry Shepherd (of Shepherd Neame brewery), the landlord was a Thomas Collins.

According to the Tithe Schedule, Henry Shepherd also owned the "Chequers Inn" (in Lenham Square) which the Shepherd Family had bought in 1771. If they bought ‘The Bull’ at around the same time (we will hopefully find out), then the ale house in Lenham Heath was in operation at the same time as the Lenham Heath Military Camp and of course the history of the Bull Inn (not necessarily the same building) can go back much further.

The mystery of the cannon.

The proximity to the George III camp on Camp Field in Lenham Heath would explain why a cannon stood in front of the pub, a fact, which most former visitors to the pub have forgotten. When asked their reaction normally is: ‘Yes, now that you mention it, you are right. There was a cannon.’ It is very unlikely that the canon came from 6th Guards Tank Brigade workshop which was also in Lenham Heath in WWII as the workshop repaired tanks.

The question is: where did the cannon come from and where has it gone?

Life in Lenham Heath in the early 20th century.

Some years ago, former Lenham Heath resident Sidney John Tappenden who was then 76 produced a map which gives us a good insight in the farming community of Lenham Heath in the early 20th century. He records many orchards, apple and cherry orchards. He also notes that ‘most holdings kept 1 horse, chicken, ducks, geese, Guinea Fowl and a few sheep and a pig’. Among the merchants in Lenham Heath he recalls is George Chapman, a carrier and coal merchant, who ‘collected morellas in the evening and took them to Maidstone. They were picked in Peck baskets. Most of the heath had a few trees, even in the hedges.’ Other merchants which Sidney John Tappenden mentions, are: Bignaal, the grocer, Fred Chesson for cloths and provisions, Coveney, the butcher, Tappenden the butcher and owner of the slaughterhouse and H. Tappenden, the egg packer and Ernest Chapman who operated a repair shop for steam engines, threshing machines and lorries.

‘Cosy’ and memorable.

Local residents recollect that the Bull Inn was very small inside. It was in those days, together with the "Harrow Inn," supposedly the smallest ale house in Lenham and often full when the men, returning from working on the land, took a small detour to the Bull in Lenham Heath.

The Maidstone Journal and Kentish Advertiser from September 10th 1896 reported that a Samuel Burbridge was charged and convicted for being drunk at the ‘Bull Inn’. The punishment was hard: a 5 shilling fine, in addition to 12 shilling 4 pennies cost or 7 days hard labour.

Fortunately, by the 20th century such practices had ceased and those Lenham residents who remember the bell for last orders at the Bull Inn hopefully do this without regret.