A LITTLE HISTORY OF THE AVON BREWERY INN
( INCLUDING CASTLE ST AND A BRIEF HISTORY OF SALISBURY )
Earliest reference to the Avon Brewery is 1867, when it was run by a Salisbury brewer - James Hole. In the same year, there was another Avon Brewery Inn listed out at Harnham, run by a different person, it isn't made clear which came first.
The Harnham Avon Brewery Inn was an attempt at expansion, following the move by the Salisbury Council to open and run their own brewery in order to use the profits to benefit the poor, although this was fought hard against by the local brewers, and one went so far as get himself elected as the Mayor and obstructed all the moves to put the brewery in place, at the time, the population of Salisbury was less than 6,000, and of these, 3,000 people were described as abjectly poor.
Castle Street, northernmost part of the old Minster Street has been called Castle street in it's present location (other streets and roads in Salisbury have changed, like the High Street, which was located further over is now where it is because that particular part of Salisbury became more central and important than it's previous locale) however, Castle Street has remained the same since before 1339. The lower end of Castle Street is composed mainly of 18th Century frontages, although a lot of the buildings are far older inside. The central Part of Salisbury, including that
part of Castle Street, was pretty much the same for a long time after the
construction of the cathedral and close, and the original central layout of the
town's streets, it didn't start to expand until after 1835. Of Castle Street itself, in 1840 there was only one brewery listed - George Pain & Son, then another appears on the lists around 1852 - Samuel Gillingham, neither is listed with an Inn or public house name, Pain and Son could have had the George and Dragon Inn at 79 - 91 Castle Street. But details on the register are pretty sketchy prior to 1860, and pubs, inns and brewers aren't listed prior to the 1840s.
MAKING an emergency exit
...
from the Salisbury pub, The Avon Brewery Inn,
would have involved swimming to safety until staff came up with
an easier escape route.
The Avon
Brewery Inn,
in Salisbury backs on to a river, creating problems for
customers in the event of their needing to escape from the
pub's new extension.
The problem was solved when brewers Eldridge
Pope's development team came up with the idea of a retractable
bridge.
Licensees Esme' and Paul said: "It's a superb
idea and one which has kept all the authorities happy.
"We hope there will never be a need to use the
apparatus, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
From the Swindon Advertiser more to come......
return to top A BRIEF HISTORY OF SALISBURY SAXON SALISBURY...
http://www.localhistories.org/salisbury.html
http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk
By Tim Lambert
The story of Salisbury began 2,500 years ago
when an iron age fort was built on Salisbury Hill about 2 miles
north of the modern town centre. In the 6th century AD the
Saxons invaded the area. In 552 Saxons and Celts fought a battle
at Salisbury Hill. The Celts were defeated and fled westwards.
The fort probably lay abandoned for centuries.
However by the early 11th century a settlement had grown up on
the site of the old fort. In 1003 the Vikings raided Wilton some
of the survivors may have fled to the safety of Salisbury Hill
and founded a new settlement. The new town had a mint and a
market.
About 1069 William the Conqueror built a wooden castle to
overlook the settlement and keep the inhabitants in line. In
1075 a bishop moved his seat there. However Sarisberie, as it
was called, was a small settlement, much smaller than nearby
Wilton. It probably only had a population of a few hundred.
SALISBURY IN THE MIDDLE AGES...
The modern town of Salisbury began about the
year 1217 when the Bishop decided to move his seat to land owned
by the church south of the hill. Perhaps there was friction
between the clergy and the soldiers in the Norman castle. A
shortage of water on the hill may have been another reason for
the move. He created a new town on the plain. The Bishop laid
out streets in a grid pattern and leased plots of land for
building houses. So a new settlement grew up but the town at Old
Sarum continued for centuries.
The new town of Salisbury was given a charter in 1227 (a charter
was a document granting the townspeople certain rights). By 1219
Salisbury had a market and an annual fair. In Middle Ages fairs
were like markets but they were held only once a year. People
would come from all over Wiltshire to buy and sell at a
Salisbury fair.
The new town of Salisbury was very successful. This was partly
because it was on the road from Wilton to Southampton. It was
also on the road from London to Exeter. (In those days Exeter
was a large and important town and much traffic went between
those two towns). In 1244 a stone bridge was built across the
Avon, which increased the traffic flowing through Salisbury.
Obviously travellers would stop at Salisbury and spend money in
the town.
However the main industry in Salisbury in the Middle Ages was
making wool cloth. The wool was woven. It was then fulled.
Before it was dyed the wool was beaten in a mixture of water and
clay to clean and thicken it. This was called fulling. Wooden
hammers worked by watermills beat the wool. Much of this wool
was exported through Southampton. Salisbury grew to be one of
the largest towns in England by the 15th century with a
population of perhaps 8,000.
Work on Salisbury Cathedral began in 1220 and continued until
1258. The tower and spire were added in 1334. The Bishops Palace
was also built in the 13th century. In 1269 Salisbury was
divided into 3 parishes.
In the 13th century the friars arrived in Salisbury. The friars
were like monks but instead of withdrawing from the world they
went out to preach. In Salisbury there were 2 orders of friars,
the Franciscans (called grey friars because of their grey
costumes) and the Dominicans (known as black friars).
In the late 14th century the Hospital of the Holy Trinity was
founded where monks cared for the sick and poor as best they
could.
The House of John A'Port in Queen Street was built in the 15th
century.
SALISBURY IN THE 16th AND 17th
CENTURIES...
In 1538 Henry VIII closed the friaries in
Salisbury. However the 2 'hospitals' continued to function.
During the 17th century the wool industry in Salisbury slowly
declined. The population of the town also declined slightly to
about 7,000. Salisbury was a large and important town in the
Middle Ages but by 1700 it had dwindled into a medium sized
market town. On the other hand in 1612 Salisbury was given a new
charter. This one made the town completely independent of the
Bishop.
Like all towns in those days Salisbury suffered from outbreaks
of the plague. It struck in 1563, 1604 and 1627.
In 1642 came civil war between king and parliament. For 2 years
Salisbury escaped the fighting then in October 1644 a royalist
army occupied the town. In December 1644 a parliamentary army
attacked Salisbury and quickly defeated the royalists taking
many of them prisoner. However in January 1645 another royalist
army attacked Salisbury. They drove out the parliamentary
troops. Salisbury remained in royalist hands until January 1645.
By then the king was losing the war and he withdrew his troops
from Salisbury as they were needed elsewhere.
The civil war ended in 1646 but in 1655 a royalist uprising took
place. Not many men from Salisbury were willing to join the
revolt. The uprising was soon crushed and 7 rebels were hanged
in Salisbury. Others were transported to the West Indies.
The Joiners Hall was built in the 16th century. Matrons College
for the widows of clergymen was built by Bishop Seth Ward in
1685.
SALISBURY IN THE 18th CENTURY
One of Salisbury's famous buildings, Mompesson House, was built
in 1701 for Charles Mompesson a merchant.
However during the 18th century Salisbury remained a market town
of only local importance. Cloth manufacture was still the main
industry in Salisbury but it continued to gradually decline.
Furthermore Salisbury suffered outbreaks of smallpox in 1723 and
in 1752.
Nevertheless there were some improvements in Salisbury in the
18th century. Salisbury gained its first newspaper in 1715. Then
in 1737 an Act of Parliament formed a body of men with powers to
pave, clean and light the streets of Salisbury with oil lamps.
They also appointed a force of night watchmen. An infirmary was
built in Salisbury in 1774 and a theatre was built in 1777.
SALISBURY IN THE 19TH CENTURY...
In 1801 Salisbury had a population of 7,668.
By the standards of the time it was a fair sized town. However
Salisbury grew little in the early 19th century and had a
population of less than 9,500 in 1851. In the later 19th century
the population grew more rapidly. It reached 17,000 by 1901.
In the 19th century the industrial revolution transformed
Britain but it largely passed Salisbury by. Salisbury remained a
market town and the old cloth industry died out altogether.
However there were some improvements in Salisbury during the
19th century. In 1833 Salisbury gained gas street light and 1836
a modern police force was created in the town. Then in 1847 the
railway arrived.
However in 1849 Salisbury suffered a severe outbreak of cholera
and 192 people died. Afterwards, in the 1850s sewers were dug
under the town and a piped water supply was created.
Salisbury museum was founded in 1860. In 1892 a public swimming
pool opened.
The original settlement at Salisbury was on a hill north of the
town. By the early 19th century it had dwindled to almost
nothing. It became a 'rotten borough' where 10 voters elected 2
MPs! This situation was finally ended in 1832. Then in 1882 Old
Sarum was finally extinguished when it became a public park.
SALISBURY IN THE 20th CENTURY
In the 20th century Salisbury continued to
grow quite rapidly but it remained an agricultural town. Today
one of the main industries in Salisbury is tourism.
The first cinema in Salisbury opened in 1908.
Then in the 1920s and 1930s the first council houses were built.
Some of them were needed to replace demolished slums. More
council houses were built in Salisbury after 1945.
Old George Mall opened in 1968. A new library opened in
Salisbury in 1975. A new swimming pool opened in 1976. The
Redcoats In The Wardrobe Museum opened in 1982.
The Maltings Shopping Centre opened in 1986. Wilton Shopping
Village opened in 1998.