Above postcard, date unknown.

Above photo, date unknown, by Bob Smith.

THE BELL INN SOUTHBOROUGH.

There have been two public houses in Southborough called The Bell Inn. The oldest one, referred to in the Southborough Newsletter Winter 1998 as The ‘Old Bell Inn’ stood just west of the London Road, near the present Fountain from before 1737 to about 1800. ‘The New Bell Inn’ which is the subject of this article, was located on the east side of London Road (No. 139) just south of the Town Council Offices. This public house dated from about 1851 and continued as a pub until its closure in March 1997.

This pub had had a number of licensed victuallers over the years namely Mrs M. A. Latter in he 1860’s; L. J. Breeze in the 1880’s, and from about 1889 to 1903 William John Douch. Frederick Tanner ran the pub in the period of 1918-1922 and after him up to at least 1938 was H. Lawrence. The pub has had a number of owners also, including Leney’s in the early 20th century;  in the Fremlins 1950’s and Whitbread’s in the 1960’s and at the time of its closure it was owned by Shepherd Neame Ltd.

After the pub closed it’s windows had been boarded up for some ten years and was a blight on the landscape. In 1998 Shepherd Neame made application to put a new shop front on the building and provide parking. Permission was not granted due to traffic concerns created by what they believe would be a convenience store. Shepherd Neame then sold the site to Tesco. Tesco, who ran an ‘Express Store’ in Southborough, bought the old pub site with the intention of demolishing it and construction a superstore, but when their application for approval came before Council in, March 2012, there was strong opposition to it. As a result Tesco sold the site to Kent County Council. The Bell Inn was demolished and the site cleared ready for development as part of the Southborough Hub redevelopment of the area which was to consist of a large building in which would be housed a library, Council offices, a theatre, and various other uses. To date the redevelopment proposal has not gone ahead and has been met with some local opposition.

Shown above is the oldest known image of the pub and below it is a 20th century photograph of London Road on which it can also be seen.

LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION.

The Bell Inn was located on the east side of London Road at No. 139. The location of the pub is labelled on the 1998 plan shown below. The map shows it next door to the Council Offices on the south and next to the Council Offices is the landmark building, the Royal Victoria Hall.

London Road was and is a busy commercial district in Southborough and no doubt the pub did a good trade. One person who lived across the road from the pub and frequented it said “It became a rough place and often there were fights there”.

The pub has had a number of owners, including Leney’s in the early 20th century; Fremlins in the 1950’s and Whitbread’s in the 1960’s and at the time of its closure in March 1997 it was owned by Sheperd Neame Ltd. Some examples of their pub signs are given below.

Above sign left, 1967, sign right, date 1980s.

Above sign, date 2000s.

The Southborough Society Newsletter of Winter 1998 stated “'The New Bell Inn', was located on the east side of London Road (No. 139) just south of the Town Council Offices. This public house dated from about 1851 and continued as a pub until its closure in March 1997. An earlier pub of the same name is described in the ‘Overview’ above, which description is from the same source.

Shown below are some other images of the pub when boarded up and one showing its demolition.

A review of Planning Applications shows that in 1977 an application was approved for the installation of an Illuminated sign on the pub. In 1998 Shepard Neame Ltd, who owned the building submitted an application requesting approval for a new shop front with parking for twelve vehicles. This application was met with resistance and as a result it was not initially approved over concerns that the pub was to be converted into a convenience store. However approval was given January 8,1999 although it appears that the work did not go ahead. A letter in the files pertaining to this application dated January 29,1999 stated “The Bell Inn has for the past few years been a derelict eyesore in Southborough attracting vandalism and creating a health hazard. Although some work had been carried out to try to secure the building and remove the tiles from the roof the entire site is still very unattractive and a health hazard” signed Paul Russsell, Town Clerk.

Shown below is a set of architects plans relating to this application which shows existing the proposed elevations of the building.

Shepherd Neame Ltd sold the building to Tesco, who had a building in Southborough already. Tesco proposed to construct a superstore in the former Bell Inn site. In 2002 an application was made to gain approval for the ‘erection of a local convenience food store with associated parking but permission was refused.

Tesco, seeing that they would have to make other plans for their operations in Southborough sold the Bell Inn Site to Kent County Council. An article dated July 6, 2016 entitled ‘Southborough Hub Moves Forward’ stated ‘The Tesco site that has been boarded up for over a decade has been bought by the Kent County Council, in the latest step towards delivering the Southborough Hub project. The supermarket giant previously wanted to build a new store on the site, formerly the home of the Bell Inn, but have now sold it to Council”. The Southborough Hub project (image below) referred to was described in other articles as a facility that would house the Council Offices, a library, theatre, meeting rooms, storage and also the St Andrew’s Medical Clinic.

Some opposition to this project has presented it from going ahead at this time and all that remains on the site of the Bell Inn is a patch of barren ground. The sticking point in proceeding with this development is that the old council offices and more significantly the Royal Victoria Hall need to be demolished and since the latter building has historical importance, there is great opposition to it being demolished.

However, since the above was written, Ian Kinghorn, Vice Chairman of the Southborough Society tells me the following:-  Planning approval to build the Southborough Hub was granted by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council Planning Committee in February 2019 and work on the building of the Southborough Hub will start in June 2019 with completion due in late summer 2020.

He kindly also sent me a CGI of what the Southborough Hub will look like when built in 2020. The design shown above was from a previous design that was superseded some two years ago.

Above aluminium card issued 1950. Sign series 2 number 13.

Above advert, circa 1870s.

From an email received 21 July 2020.

Photo attached of my late grandfather Henry Douglas Lawrence outside the main entrance, who was landlord from about 1927-1957.

John Lawrence.

Above photo showing a matchbox holder probably given away at Christmas to the regulars by licensee Henry Lawrence. Kindly sent by Osman Rafaat.

Above photo showing the inside of the matchbox holder. Kindly sent by Osman Rafaat.