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The following information has been taken from
http://www.cliffehistory.co.uk/pubs.html
Alongside Cliffe Creek, close by I. C. Johnson's cement works, stood
the "Masons Arms" from at least 1871. Its location, according to the
1871 Census, was ‘Shant Fort, Johnson's Works' and referred to as ‘The
Shant': a name that was later used by another beer house on the same or
nearby site. On the Register of Licenses granted in the North Division
of Aylesford Lathe in the County of Kent it is recorded to be at Cliffe
Battery. Why it was known as ‘The Shant Fort' or ‘Shant' is unclear
but could be the nickname given to it by military personnel from the
nearby Cliffe Fort. The word shant is also a colloquial term for a pint
of beer deriving from the area around Portsmouth. The area it served
most certainly would have included troops from Cliffe Fort as well as
workers at the Pottery and Whitening Works at Johnson's Cement Works
site. The first recorded beer house keeper was Mr. Isaac Thompson,
aged 19. Mr. Isaac Thompson, despite his tender years, was no stranger
to the trade as he grew up in a beer house: his father, William
Thompson, ran the "Gardeners
Beer Shop," Chapel Row, Higham. It was Mr. William Thompson who was
the recorded owner of the premises. Isaac's time at The "Masons Arms"
was relatively short lived and by 1877 he had moved back to Higham to
run The "Railway
Tavern" Beer Houses in Chequers Street with his new wife Emma. It
was whilst at The "Railway
Tavern" Emma gave birth to three children: Francis, Herbert and
Sophia. By 1891 Isaac was out of the beer house trade for good and
spent the rest of his days as a Tram Car driver and living in Northfleet.
Although it is not certain whether the "Masons Arms" continued after
Isaac's departure there are no further references to it and, in 1872 the
proprietor of The "Black
Bull" in Cliffe village took charge of a ‘new' beer house on the
site: The "Canal
Tavern." It is quite possible that the "Mason's Arms" (the Shant)
was renamed The "Canal
Tavern" (the Shant). |
