Loose

Above map 1870, kindly sent by Rory Kehoe.

Only one instance of this found at present, but I do have reference to a "Bird in Hand" in Coxheath, and a "Hammer in Hand" in Maidstone.

Rory Kehoe says:- It appears that the change of name from the "Hand in Hand" to the "Bockingford Arms" took place in the 1870s or 1880s. The exact year is hard to track down and as for the reason, there's nothing obvious, as the "village" of Bockingford is only a cluster of farm buildings and there was no local landowner of that name, whose coat of arms might have been painted on the pub sign. In fact, I'm not aware that there ever was a pub sign! Being tucked away in the charming Loose Valley, it's quite possible that the pub only survived by offering refreshments to groups of day trippers, hikers and cyclists, rather than relying on trade from a handful of locals living in the immediate area. (I think the pub changed in 1861 due to the Census report of that year stating that John Clark was licensee of the pub with the name of "Bockingford Arms" in that year, and that the map annotation was out of date. Paul Skelton.)

I believe the pub changed name to the "Bockingford Arms" in 1861, less the newspaper article of that year used the old name for the pub.

LICENSEE LIST