|
13 Sea Wall (beach Wall 1881 )
Whitstable
Above postcard, date unknown, kindly sent by Garth Wyver. |
Above photo, 1890, by Douglas West. Showing the rear of the pub. |
Above photo, 1900, kindly sent by Blake Mackinnon. |
Above photo, circa 1933, kindly sent by Blake Mackinnon. |
Above photo, date unknown, kindly sent by Garth Wyver. |
Above photo, date unknown, kindly sent by Garth Wyver. |
Above oil painting on canvas by Vincent Donlin. |
Above photo 2010, looking from the beach at the Horsebridge, the Oyster
Head Quarters being the building on the right. |
The "Stag" was owned by Flint and Co Brewery and was eventually sold to
the Whitstable Oyster Company in 1924, although the licence was not renewed
in 1906.
The 1881 census indicates that it was two doors down from the "Dredgerman's."
|
From the Kentish Chronicle, Saturday, 10 September, 1859. Price 1½d.
ST. AUGUSTINE'S PETTY SESSIONS.
Saturday.
This was the annual general licensing day. All the old licenses were
renewed, and the chairman said he was pleased to be able to state that
out of the fifty-four licensed houses in the Home division there had
been only one complaint made during the year, which was exceedingly
creditable to the landlords. There were four applications for new
licenses, viz:- John Anderson, for the “Stag,” at Whitstable; Mr. H. T. Sankey supported
the application, and handed in a memorial and petition, most respectably
signed. He said that for the past twenty years only one license had been
granted for Whitstable. In 1851 there was a population of 3,000, and at
the present time he believed it numbered between 5,000 and 6,000. The
house was situated on the sea wall, and lately had been a place of
resort by visitors. The applicant had kept a beer house for sixteen
years. The decision of the Bench upon these
applications will not be announced until the adjourned licensing day,
the 21st of September. |
|
From the Kentish Chronicle, Saturday, 1 October, 1859. Price 1½d.
ST. AUGUSTINE'S PETTY SESSIONS.
Saturday.
This was the adjourned licensing day. In the case of the "Stag,"
Whitstable, the application was refused. |
|
South Eastern Gazette, 4 September, 1860.
ST. AUGUSTINE’S PETTY SESSIONS. Saturday.
(Before W. Slarke, W. Plummer, G. Neame, and . Wynn Ellis, Esqrs.)
This was the annual general licensing day for the various
public-houses situate within the Home Division. All the old licenses
were renewed, and it is due to the respective landlords to state
that out of the entire number only about two complaints had been
made daring the past year, and they were only of a trifling
character. There were six applications for new licenses, viz:—
John Anderson, for the "Stag," at Whitstable.
Thos. Ougham, for the "Rose," Whitstable. The decision upon these
two cases will not be announced until the adjourned licensing day,
the 29th September.
|
|
From the Kentish Chronicle, 8 September, 1860.
ST. AUGUSTINE’S PETTY SESSIONS. Saturday.
This was the annual general licensing day for the various public-houses
situate within the Home Division. All the old licenses were renewed, and
there were the following applications for new ones.
John Anderson, for the "Stag," at Whitstable and T Ougham, for the
"Rose," Whitstable. The decision upon these two cases will not be
announced until the adjourned licensing day, the 29th September.
|
|
South Eastern Gazette, 2 October, 1860.
ST. AUGUSTINE’S PETTY SESSIONS.
Saturday. (Before W. Delmar, Esq. (in the chair), T. Hilton and W.
Ellis, Esqrs).
This was the adjourned licensing day, and the Bench, according to
their usual practice, announced their determination with respect to
the applications for new licenses, the particulars of which were
gone into at the annual licensing day. There were two applications;
viz. John Anderson for the "Stag," and Thos. Ougham, for the "Rose,"
both at Whitstable.
To-day Mr. H. T. Sankey, on the part of the landlord of the "Stag,"
handed in a memorial from the inhabitants of Whitstable, in favour
of the application. He also reminded the Bench, that on the previous
year’s licensing day an intimation was made that in the event of the
applicant’s house being improved, and rendered convenient for a
licensed house, the Bench would in all probability accede to the
application for a license. Such improvements had been made, and the
house was now much used by visitors. The Bench, after a brief
consultation, granted both applications.
|
|
From the Kentish Chronicle, 6 October, 1860.
ST. AUGUSTINE'S PETTY SESSIONS. Saturday.
(Before W. Delmar, Esq., in the chair, T, Hilton, and W. Ellis, Esqrs.)
This was the adjourned licensing day, and the Bench, according to their
usual practice, announced their determination with respect to the
application for new license the particulars of which were gone into at
the annual licensing day. There were two applications; viz:—J. Anderson
for the "Stag," and Thomas Ougham, for the "Rose," both at Whitstable.
To-day Mr. H. T. Sankey, on the part of the landlord of the "Stag,"
handed in a memorial from the inhabitants of Whitstable, in favour of
the application. He also reminded the Bench, that on the previous year’s
licensing day an intimation was made that in the event of the
applicant's house being improved, and rendered convenient for a licensed
house, the bench would, in all probability accede to the application for
a license. Such improvements had been made, and the house was now much
used by visitors. The Bench, after a brief consultation, granted both
applications.
|
From the Canterbury Journal and Farmers' Gazette, Saturday 6 October, 1906.
THE STAG, WHITSTABLE.
Mr. R. M. Mercer, Canterbury, applied for the renewal of this
licence, while Mr. R. F. Gibson represented the Licensing Justices
of the Home Division.
Superintendent Jacobs said the "Stag" was very small and was
practically a private house which had been turned into a public bar.
The rent paid was £10 a year.
In reply to Mr. mercer, witness said the house was very clean.
Mr. Mercer submitted that the trade of the "Stag" was large as
compared with many houses.
Edward White, the tenant of the "Stag," stated that he had
received no complaint as to the way in which he conducted his house.
His annual trade of 161 barrels of beer and 100 gallons of spirits
afforded him a very decent living. The trade had increased during
the past year. Dredgermen used his house very considerably.
Mrs. White said she had let rooms to very respectable people during
the past season.
The committee refused to renew the licence. |
|
The pub used to look out over the sea and was later called Stag Cottage
and was very near to the Whitstable Oyster Co's store on the Horsebridge.
|
From the
http://news.bbc.co.uk, 26 August, 2004.
Pensioner's house divided in two.
A pensioner has lost half his home, after bailiffs moved in and built a
wall down the middle of it.
Derrick Bensted, 77, had been ordered to move out of half of Stag
Cottage in Whitstable, Kent, because of a dispute over a lease, but had
vowed to remain.
He inherited the home unaware previous owners had rented half of it from
the Whitstable Oyster and Fishery Company.
He has now lost the kitchen, a bedroom and half the living room after a
court upheld an ancient Victorian lease.
Mr Bensted now has to wash up in his bath, but said he still intended to
live in the property.
"It's just an aggravation, but I am just going to live in this part of
the house, partition or not.
"I don't understand the legality of it.
"I'm quite amazed that it's come to this, but I intend to stand up for
any rights I may have." The house was first built as a pub and was expanded on to land owned by
the oyster firm. Successive owners paid rent to the company for the section it owned. But when Mr Bensted inherited the house in the 1990s, he believed he
owned it all and did not pay. The oyster company offered Mr Bensted £80,000 for his half of the house,
while he offered the firm £14,000 to buy its part. The Whitstable Oyster and Fishery Company said on Thursday it had never
wanted the situation to come to this. It said they had tried to negotiate
with Mr Bensted, but that he had not wanted to talk. It said someone
else could move into the other half of the house. |
Above map 1850. Showing the Stag as in blue. |
Above plans indicated the NW side of 'top of the wall' ... over which
the storehouse extends it was a 33ft by 18ft 6in storehouse and
appurtenances existing there in 1853 that later formed the main body of
the Stag Public House and its curtilage. (Post purchase in 1858 by
Flint, brewers of Canterbury.) |
|
From the
http://www.kentonline.co.uk 26 March 2016.
Pensioner Derrick Bensted in battle with Whitstable Oyster Fishery Company over split house.
Whitstable Oyster Fishery Company boss James Green says he is open to
negotiations to buy a “split down the middle” seafront house from an
elderly pensioner.
His most recent offer of £100,000 to purchase Stag Cottage in Sea
Wall, was rejected by 89-year-old Derrick Bensted as “insulting and
ridiculous”.
The offer also included alternative accommodation for the rest of Mr
Bensted’s life.
Derrick Bensted's home has been cut in half amid a legal wrangle
The retired taxi driver has been living in half the property ever
since a wall was built down the middle on August 23, 2004.
This followed a decision at Canterbury County Court based partly on
evidence supplied by a surveyor who determined the boundaries of Mr
Bensted’s land and that of WOFC.
Since this time Mr Bensted has been living in substandard conditions
with many residents claiming the back of the property, belonging to WOFC,
is a visual blight along the seafront.
The divide meant he lost his kitchen, use of a main bedroom and can
no longer use the veranda looking out to sea.
Mr Green claims that the saga continues because Mr Bensted still
seems unwilling to negotiate. He said: “I don’t want to see a
89-year-old man living in those conditions.
Mr Bensted is refusing to sell up - despite the condition of the home.
“It has always been our opinion that the property needs to be
developed in total. It would be very difficult to just do our half.
“I don’t think it is the Whitstable Oyster Fishery Company’s fault he
is still there, it is his choice.
“He’s got an opportunity to get out and does not want to take it.
“The offer still stands at £100,000 and we would negotiate with him
to find the alternative accommodation he would like.
“We are open to negotiations, he could get an independent valuation
showing us what he thinks it is worth and he could come to us.”
Mr Bensted described what it is like to live in Stag Cottage.
He said: “I have everything I need in my half.
“It does get cold living here and the upstairs bedroom next to the
wall is so cold and dark it is unusable.
“On their side there has been trouble with pigeons coming in and
messing on the floor and there is only one sheet of plasterboard
dividing their side from mine, which was supposed to be a short-term
solution.
“The company offered me £100,000 and it is insulting and ridiculous,
this is a big house with three bedrooms.
“This is a nice little place along the seafront, one in a million.
“I would be quite happy staying here, it’s near the sea and the shops
and I don’t want the hassle of moving and why should I?”
Mr Bensted inherited the property from previous owners, mother and
daughter Mrs Blair and Ms Blair, in 1993.
When taking over, he was aware of an ongoing legal dispute and
eventually moved from Ocean Cottage next door in 2000.
The mother and daughter had tried to register the whole property as
theirs with the Land Registry in 1971, but were only granted half due to
an 1860 agreement.
This agreement still exists as a Victorian document and was
interpreted by Land Registry in 1971 to show that publicans leased the
premises, beach and shore from The Free Fishers and Dredgers in 1860.
In 1896 The Free Fishers and Dredgers became the Whitstable Oyster
Fishery Company.
Mr Bensted’s son-in-law Blake Mackinnon has been looking into the
history of Stag Cottage ever since legal proceedings began in 2004.
He claims that nobody has correctly understood the data during the
court case and it has been a collection of errors since 1971.
The home has sea views.
He said: “Both parties relied on the expert advice they were given
and also the court relied on their own individual surveyor as evidence.
“Mr Bensted has continued to challenge the judgement in various ways
and I have attempted to help.
“We spent quite a few days in Canterbury Cathedral looking into the
Whitstable Oyster Fishery Company archive and historic papers of the
Commissioners of Sewers who owned the old Sea Wall.
“It became clear that the barristers and other professionals, Land
Registry too, had not correctly assessed the survey, geographic and
historical aspects of the case.
“The investigations over the years leading up to hearing lacked
rigour, were superficial and in effect the position is just a massive
registration error compounded by legal cock-up.”
|
Above map showing the red claimed boundary cutting the Stag Cottage
in two. |
LICENSEE LIST
ANDERSON John 1851-74+ (age 55 in 1871)
BROWN John C 1881-82+ (age 54 in 1881)
SPENCER William 1889-1903+ (age 61 in 1901)
https://pubwiki.co.uk/Stag.shtml
From the Kelly's Directory 1903
Census
|
