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The Street
Bishopsbourne
01227 830581
https://www.mermaidinnbishopsbourne.co.uk/
https://whatpub.com/mermaid
Above photo, 1941, from Historic England, kindly sent by Tim Timpson. |
Above photo 25 August 1960, kindly sent by Clive Bowley. |
Above photo, date unknown. |
Above photo showing the floods in February 2001. Kindly sent by Rory Kehoe. |
 
Photos left by Paul Skelton, 22 Aug 2008.
Mermaid Inn sign right August 1986 with thanks from Brian Curtis
www.innsignsociety.com
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Above inn sign kindly sent by Elaine Bagnall, the black area at the top
has been painted over and used to say Flowers. Although I haven't seen
this pub under that franchise before. The top right also shown this
identification mark. I am not totally convinced this was from this pub
though. Now Sheps, I assume it was previously Fremlins, who were taken
over by Whitbread who also took over Flowers (and intentions of every
brewery in the world apparently). |
Above photo, April 2018, kindly sent by Rory Kehoe. |
Above map 1900. |
Above map 1913. |
The pub was built in 1861 as a tap house for estate workers and was
originally known as the "Lions Head".
When Sir John Prestige acquired the estate, the name was changed to the
Mermaid because a mermaid featured on Sir John's coat of arms.
An entry in Fremlin's 1950s publication called "Where shall we go,"
indicated the following:- Parking accommodation - Pull-in for 2 coaches,
Lunch - 10 (2 days notice) Remarks - Piano available. Where Joseph Conrad
lived and died.
The pub was extended in 1968.
While Jack Creed was licensee the beer was still drawn from the
wood down in the cellar.
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Kent Gazette, 14 June 1974.
Solicitor Restored.
Bishopsbourne licensee, Mr. Tony Aldington, had his name restored to the
solicitor's roll at the Law Socoety's Disciplinarian Committee meeting
in London on Wednesday.
Mr. Aldington, licensee of the "Mermaid Inn," was struck off in May,
1965, for misusing client's funds.
He told the committee that in 1964 he had a brain tumour and
subsequently suffered a series of slight strokes and which had made a
slow recovery.
Mr. Aldington said that, with increasing age and failing health he
doubted whether he could carry on at the "Mermaid Inn" and wished to
return to the law.
The committee said they would restore his name to the role because no
client had suffered any loss and also because of his age and state of
health.
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From an email received 13 June 2012
Regarding your list of licensees for the "Mermaid" at Bishopsbourne, one long-standing
one was Tony Aldington, landlord until around 1976.
He was the brother of the writer Richard Aldington ('Death of a
Hero'), and this was not the only literary connexion the pub has
enjoyed: the Folkestone wine-merchant family of Jocelyn Brooke ('The
Orchid Trilogy') had a weekend cottage in Bishopsbourne, and Brooke
describes this pub (as well as a thinly-disguised "Jolly Sailor" at Capel-le-Ferne in his novel 'Image of a Drawn Sword'). And then of
course there is Joseph Conrad, who lived the last years of his life in
Bishopsbourne, and certainly echoes the snug bar of the "Mermaid" in
several pieces.
Andrew Heritage.
Joseph Conrad was a Polish-British writer
regarded as one of the greatest novelists to write in the English
language. Though he did not speak English fluently until his twenties,
he became a master prose stylist who brought a non-English sensibility
into English literature.
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From the
https://www.kentonline.co.uk By KentOnline reporter, 29 February 2016.
Kent residents celebrating Leap Year birthdays.
When Jackie Archer celebrates her 15th birthday today, she will look
back on a surprisingly full life for one of such apparent tender years.
Despite being three years short of the legal drinking age, the
grandmother ran a village pub for 10 years and works behind the bar at
Canterbury Rugby Club.
But what makes this ‘teenager’ special is that she is one of a rare
group of people born in a leap year, who celebrate their birthdays on
February 29. So while friends will send her joke happy 15th birthday
cards, she will actually be marking her 60th.
Jackie, who lives in Barham, is the former landlady of the Mermaid Inn
at Bishopsbourne and was Brown Owl of Barham Brownies for 20 years.
She said: “It’s been fun being born on February 29 – people find it
quite amusing and it’s nice to be a bit different.
“I usually celebrate on the 28th, even though I had one aunt who
insisted sending me a card just once every four years.
“I am the youngest and only girl of six children, so I was always made a
bit more of a fuss of when I was growing up.
“My husband Steve gets a bit of stick about being married to a teenager,
but there are practical difficulties – like when you fill in a form
online and it doesn’t give the option to select February 29 for my
birthday.”
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Renowned for its real ale, The Mermaid has appeared in the Campaign for
Real Ale's (CAMRA's) Good Beer Guide for 18 successive years.
LICENSEE LIST
PEACOCK Mrs H to Sept/1946
SCOTT Douglas L Sept/1946+
CREED Jack early 60s to (Aldington)
ALDINGTON Tony Dec/1970-74+
RELF Colin & Bunty to (Archer)
ARCHER Steve & Jackie 2008-13+
From the Dover Express
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