Grayshott Village Archive

"FOX & PELICAN"

Origins & Early History

The establishment of a public house in Grayshott originally arose following the purchase of land in the village by Alton Brewery. In 1893, land which had formerly been allotments, was purchased by John Ward, an Estate Agent who sold it on in 1898 to Gerald Hall, a family member of the Alton Brewery Company, at a price of £750.00.

(This land was eventually sold back to the Ward family and later purchased by Dr. Arnold Lyndon and Thomas Crook in 1913 who later conveyed it to Grayshott Parish Council in 1914 for the purposes of use as a Village Green, now known as Lyndon Green.)

Peoples Refreshment House

In 1898 a number of leading Grayshott residents, including the Rev. Jeakes, later to be appointed Vicar of Grayshott, Mrs. Charlotte Lyndon and Sir Frederick Pollock, were concerned that a commercially run Public House was about to be established by Alton Brewery on land now known as Lyndon Green. A scheme was put forward to establish a privately run refreshment house, which would sell alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages under the guidelines of the national Peoples Refreshment House Association similar to those adopted in other parts of the country. The Association was a temperance-based association, based on principles which originated in Sweden.'

Grayshott & District Refreshment Association

The result was the formation of the Grayshott & District Refreshment Association, organised and run by a Village Trust, which was established with the issue of shares to the public in order to raise an estimated sum in excess of £2,000. Land was acquired and local builders Chapman & Puttick quoted a figure of £1465 for the building excluding the fitting out cost. A total of 68 shareholders took up the offer, with shares being acquired by the above dignitaries, together with owners of local businesses, local workers and also George Bernard Shaw. The profits from the house, after providing a moderate interest to the shareholders, were to be devoted to improvements of the village.

An application was made for a trading license, which happened to be heard at the same sitting as an application by the Alton Brewery for a public house to be built on the Lyndon Green land. The Brewery application was refused and a license granted to the Grayshott & District Refreshment Association in January 1899

The name of the Refreshment House was to be the Fox & Pelican, suggested by the Chairman of the Association Sir Frederick Pollock, who had links with Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. This name arose from the fact that the House was to be in the diocese of Winchester, and the sixteenth century Bishop, Bishop Fox, was also the founder of Corpus Christi College. "Fox" was therefore taken from the Bishops name, and "Pelican" from the Bishops device (coat of arms) - a Pelican, which is also the crest of Corpus Christi College.

The Sign Board

The signboard of the new establishment was donated by Mrs. Winkworth and had been designed and painted by Sir Walter Crane, R.A., head of the Royal College of Art from 1898 to1899. The sign depicted a white pelican with outstretched wins protecting her young above a fox on one side and a scroll and the name of the house on the reverse. The following photographs are of the original sign taken in c.1902. The original sign was soon taken down for preservation purposes and replaced with a copy, no record has been found to indicate its current whereabouts.

The House or Inn

The House or Inn, was formerly opened on 23rd August 1899 by Mrs. Randall Davidson, wife of the then Bishop of Winchester Dr. Davidson, who was later to become Archbishop of Canterbury. The opening was widely reported in the National press including the London Morning Star, The Daily Telegraph and the London Star.

The inn had four bedrooms available for let at a cost of two shillings and sixpence (12 ½ new pence) for a single room per night, with breakfast at one shilling and dinner two shillings, later, in1900 a further two bedrooms were added. The inn also had a coffee shop, a stable, a bicycle shed and a library, which included books donated by George Bernard Shaw. Books included works by Kipling, Tolstoy, DuMaurier, and perhaps to the point "Temperance Problems & Social Reform" by Rowntree & Sherwell.

It is worth noting perhaps, that electricity was not introduced to the village until 1901, with street lighting being introduced in 1914,mains water in 1904 and gas in 1909. The population of Grayshott according to the 1901 census was 666.

The basis of the business operation of the inn under the guidelines of the Refreshment House Association, was that it should be commercially sound whilst at the same time, combating against a commercially run inn such as may be run by a Brewery with all the social implications that such might entail. This meant, in effect, selling as little alcohol as possible with the emphasis being on non-alcoholic beverages. Under temperance principles, alcohol was purchased by the inn at retail price, with therefore no profit available on which the manager could earn commission. The main profit was earned on the non-alcoholic beverages, food and accommodation. The manager was instructed to keep the alcohol out of sight and to sell it only when specifically requested by customers. (The price of a pint of beer at this time was three pence a pint, lunches in the tap room were six pence).

The Haslemere & Hindhead Guide published in 1901 describes the inn as follows:

"The village is also noted for its "reformed" public house, the Fox and Pelican, easily recognisable by the artistic sign which Mr. Walter Crane painted as token of his sympathy with this praiseworthy endeavour to cope with the temperance problem on really practical lines. Externally the "house" is attractive; internally, its arrangements and appointments have deservedly won for it hearty approval of all classes of visitors. According to the principles by which the inn is conducted intoxicating liquor is on sale-but under conditions which deprive the vendor of any motive for unduly pressing its sale, and which give the consumer every facility for spending his money and his time rationally. Simultaneously, the total abstainer who seeks refreshment will find that his taste and needs are admirably and sympathetically catered for."

The First Manager

BThe first manager appointed was a Mr. Wallace, a former naval steward described "as a substantially built and alert businesslike man", and he was paid a salary plus a commission. Soon after opening, Mr. Wallace left to be replaced by a Mr. Wilshire. The short term history of managers was not good, six managers being appointed between 1899 and 1904. Initially, the basis on which the inn was operated was very successful but soon became more difficult, due in part with the numerous changes in managers and objections to the temperance practices by locals. In September 1899, local magistrates fined the manager 10 shillings for allowing a man to get drunk and to remain on the premises. A local paper also reported;-

" A very short time proved that the working of the house was not to be at all easy. The very laws framed to prevent drunkenness or anything approaching it proved a stumbling block, as to reconcile them with the intricate requirements of the licensing laws needed very keen management".

In 1903, the Peoples Refreshment House Association made an offer to purchase the Grayshott & District R.H.A. but this offer was rejected following a Special General Meeting. The inn continued under the then present ownership until 1913 when it was transferred to the national Association, who held it until the late 1950's when it was taken over by Gales Brewery.

Very few records exist of events once the inn was completely established and accepted by the community. However it is known that the first annual dinner of the village Cricket Club was held there in 1900, and that a supper was held for pensioners in the inn to celebrate King George V and Queen Mary's jubilee in 1935.

Brian Tapp
Grayshott Village Archive, August 2007
Photographs: Richard Peskett

Acknowledgments
'Grayshott-Story of a Hampshire village' by J.H. Smith 1978, reprinted John Owen Smith 2002
Haslemere & Hindhead Guide 1901

 

Reference: Grayshott Village Archive 040 04