FIVE BELLS Pub of Eynsford

DOVER KENT ARCHIVES

Page Updated:- Wednesday, 25 September, 2024.

PUB LIST

PUBLIC HOUSES

Paul Skelton

Earliest 1745

Five Bells

Open 2020+

High Street

Eynsford

01322 863135

https://whatpub.com/five-bells

Above postcard, circa 1908, kindly sent by Rory Kehoe. Also showing "Castle" both pubs were within the tied estate of the Dartford Brewery Company, which was taken over by Style & Winch's Medway Brewery, Maidstone, in 1924.

Above photo, 1921. Also showing the "Castle. Kindly sent by Rory Kehoe.

Above photo, date unknown.

Above photo 1936, kindly sent by Rory Kehoe.

Above photo, circa 1970s.

Above photo 2010 by Dr Neil Clifton Creative Commons Licence.

Above sign left 1965, sign right, July 1986.

With thanks from Brian Curtis www.innsignsociety.com.

Above sign left, May 1993, sign right, 2010.

I will be adding the historical information when I find or are sent it, but this project is a very big one, and I do not know when or where the information will come from.

All emails are answered.

The property can be traced back to 1745, from a deed naming Charles Bosvile of Staffordshire. He was related to Sir Henry Bosvile of Little Mote, Eynsford, who died in 1702 with no surviving children, leaving Little Mote and his other Eynsford properties to his Staffordshire kinsman. Robert Bosvile. The Five Bells site may thus have belonged to the Eynsford Bosviles for a considerable time, and perhaps before that to their maternal predecessors, the Sibells, who were at Little Mote in the time of Henry VIII.

Charles Bosvile sold the property to John Pratt of Famingham in 1749, and in his will of 1761 the latter left it to his daughter Elizabeth. She became Mrs. Colyer and in 1805 sold it for £475 to John Tasker a brewer of Lowfield Street in Dartford where its name if first found, the deed indication that it had been identified under this name "for several years." The local church of St. Martins had five bells from 1651 or earlier, but a sixth being added in 1748, so the name could actually predate that year.

The Tasker family had been brewing since the early 1700s and in a deed dated 1874 it stated that for 20 years or more prior to 1864, the property had been owned by brother John and William, who also owned other public houses in the area.

Tasker and Co were taken over by Miller and Adworth of Dartford in 1867 and by the turn of the century had also been taken over by the Dartford brewing Company. Through the ages this has also been owned by Style and Winch, Barclay's, Courage and Barclay's and finally Courage, although operating as a Free House in 2006.

From 1832 to 1840 at least the pub was operating under the name of the "Fox and Hounds" and John Brand appears to have been responsible for changing the name. There is also reference to a pub called the "Huntsman and Hounds" being run in 1845 by a Fanny Brand.

South Eastern Gazette, Tuesday 1 May 1849.

Dartford Petty sessions, Saturday.

Henry Carter, landlord of the "Five Bells" at Eynsford, was summoned for having his house open during afternoon divine service, on Sunday, and having five persons in his parlour and 3 in the taproom.

Fined £2 and costs.

Kent Times, 10 May 1862.

DARTFORD PETTY SESSIONS.

Petty Sessions, May 3. (Before Sir P. H. Dyke, Bart., F. M. Lewin and T. H. Fleet Esqrs.)

George Cooper, a navvy at Eynsford, was charged with stealing a silver watch and chain, value £6 6s., the property of Wm. Henry Turner, of the same place on Sunday, the 27th ult. It appeared that the prosecutor, who is a very young man, had been drinking, first in the "Bells" public-house, and then in the "Harrow," until he became helpless drunk, and at 11 o’clock at night he went home. In the morning he missed his watch, and applied to Sergeant Dashwood, K.C.C., who charged the prisoner with having the watch, which he at first denied all knowledge of, but ultimately gave it up, saying he found it in the road.

Committal for trial.

Kent Messenger & Gravesend Telegraph, Saturday 13 February 1915.

“ONE MAN, ONE DRINK. A FAMOUS CASE- RECALLED.

At the Dartford Licensing Sessions on Friday, the most interesting proceedings referred to the "Five Bells," Eynsford, the renewal of the license of which was objected to by Mr. E. W. Till on two grounds - that the licensee was required to supply the legitimate needs of the neighbourhood and that the licensee was not a proper person to hold the license.

Counsel, stated, however that he did not propose to go into the second objection.

Edward Downs Till, the Priory, Eynsford, said that he had lived in the village for over 30 years. The population, was roughly 1,000, and there were four licensed houses in the village, including the "Five Bells, the "Castle Hotel" was a well equipped modern house two-doors from the "Five Bells." There were also the "Malt Shovel" and the "Plough." He had, no interest in the houses or the matter beyond his interest as a public man.

It was elicited that the Dartford Brewery Company were the brewers concerned both with "Castle" and the "Five Bells."

Mr. Clinch handed witness a letter which he asked him to read.

Mr. Till said that the letter was in his writing, but his counsel objected to his reading it.

As the letter was addressed to the Magistrates, the Clerk said Mr. Clinch had no right to it and it could not be read. (The letter was handed over to the Magistrates.)

Mr. Till said that he built the "Castle Hotel" and turned it into a good hotel, but after his policy in limiting the number of drinks sold to customers the company got an injunction against him.

The Chairman said that when the Magistrates visited the house they did not regard it as one of the public houses of the village; they thought it a most charming place.

The license was renewed.

The licences of the following houses, the renewal of which was opposed by the police, were referred to the Compensation Authority.

"Royal Oak," Horton Kirby;

"Prince of Wales," Swanscombe;

"One Bell," Wilmington;
The "Jessamine," Wilmington.

Police Superintendent Fowle, in his annual report stated that the licensed houses in the division numbered 71 ale houses, 58 beer houses (on), 4 beer houses (off), and 11 grocers' licences, a total of 144. During the year 10 ale houses, 5 beer houses and one grocers' licence had been transferred. The houses had been generally well conmducted. proceedings had been taken against the landlord of the "Fighting Cocks," Horton Kirby, for being drunk on is licensed premises, with the result that he was fined, and the licence had since been transferred. The off-licence of 23, Highstreet, Dartford, had lapsed during the year. The "Hull Trader," Greenhithe, and the "Crown" and "Jolly Waggoners," Dartford, ceased to exist as licensed houses during 1914, the houses having been dealt with under the Licensing Consolidation Act. The population of the division was 57,284, giving a total of about 430 persons for licence. Proceedings had been taken against 84 persons for drunkenness and drunken and disorderly contact. Of these 72 were convicted; 57 male and 15 females. 32 being residents and 49 non-residents. The total show the decrease of 13 persons proceeded against during the year.

From a local paper, 12 May 1939.

PAYING-IN NIGHT AT THE FIVE BELLS.

Most of the excuses improvised by man to justify his visits to the "local" have done duty down the years. They are hoary with age, hackneyed with use and as transparent as a film star's negligee. But they still suffice to camouflage father’s sins from the inquisitive ears of little Willie. Down in Eynsford, however, they scorn them, for Kentish men take a pride in their excuses. When the regulars of the "Five Bells" visit the local, it is for "an evening at the Rat and Sparrow Club, m'dear." And though the "Rat" part of it lays them open to a nasty back-answer, they seem to get away with it very nicely, thank you.

The object of the Rat and Sparrow Club is to catch vermin—pests like mice and rats and weasels. Once a month the Club meets at the "Five Bells." The catches (represented by the tails of the unlucky rodents) are totted up by the secretary, and a prize is awarded to the member who turns in the biggest bag.

Our photographs were taken at the last meeting. In No. 1, the secretary is checking the scores as the tails are dumped on the landlord's table. In No. 2, old Charlie Meadows, a local shepherd with a reputation for big catches, is paying in. In No. 3 (centre) William Yarworth, the landlord, has just heard the news : Charlie has broken the record, and that means drinks on the house! No. 4 shows the record breaker celebrating his success at the landlord’s expense. And No. 5—well, No.5 is a character you will hear them talk about in the "Five Bells" when the tails have been cleared away and the ale is flowing. His bowler hat is twenty-four years old. He has worn it every day since it was new—and he gives it a coat of tar regularly once a year to keep the rain out.

Above Christmas card, front, 1940, kindly sent by Gina Jeremiah.

Above Christmas card inside, 1940 kindly sent by Gina Jeremiah.

From the https://www.kentlive.news By Lauren MacDougall, 21 December 2019.

The 33 pubs in Kent you have to drink at in 2020 according to CAMRA.

In total Kent has heaps of pubs listed in the guide and, while 33 of these are new entries, others have appeared in previous editions of the guide.

A total of 33 pubs from around Kent make up the new entries that feature in the 2020 edition of the Good Beer Guide.

The guide is produced annually by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), the independent guide to the best boozers in the UK that is researched by unpaid and independent volunteers nationwide.

Tom Stainer, CAMRA’s chief executive, said: “For nearly five decades, the Good Beer Guide has been a comprehensive guide to the UK’s breweries, their ales, and the best outlets to find them in across the country.

“What makes the Guide unique is that all the entries are compiled and vetted by a huge volunteer team, based around the country. We work hard to ensure that all areas of the country are covered and, unlike with some competitor titles, inclusion in this book is dependent only on merit, not on payment.

“The Good Beer Guide has always had an important role in acting as a barometer of the beer and pub industry. We believe information gleaned from the Guide is absolutely vital in the drive to save our pubs from closure and campaign for policies that better support pubs, local brewers and their customers.”

This pub is included in the 2020 list.

Five Bells, Eynsford.

What the guide says: "Traditional community pub in the heart of an attractive village.

"The public bar retains a homely atmosphere, with wooden tables and a wood- burning fire in winter."

LICENSEE LIST

BRAND John 1828-29+