King's Head Inn, Aylesbury
Encyclopedia
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
s with a coaching
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
yard in the south of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is located in the Market Square, Aylesbury
Aylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...
, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
.
The oldest part of the current structure of the building is of 15th century design, however the cellars are much older, dating back to the 13th century, and may have been part of the local friary.
History
The history of the King's Head starts in 1455, with the first documentary reference appearing in a conveyance between William Wandeford, a London wool merchant, and Ralph Verney, a former master of the London Mercer's Company, dated 18 December 1455. It refers to the newly built 'Kyngeshede', as well as a cellar and shop, and cottages. The Great Hall is the oldest standing structure on site, dating back to the 1470s, and was built as a guest house by the Verney family (of nearby Claydon HouseClaydon House
Claydon House is a country house in the Aylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire, England, close to the village of Middle Claydon. It was built between 1757 and 1771 and is now owned by the National Trust....
). King Henry VI
Henry VI of England
Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents. Contemporaneous accounts described him as peaceful and pious, not suited for the violent dynastic civil wars, known as the Wars...
possibly stayed at the inn while on a tour of the country with his new wife Margaret of Anjou
Margaret of Anjou
Margaret of Anjou was the wife of King Henry VI of England. As such, she was Queen consort of England from 1445 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471; and Queen consort of France from 1445 to 1453...
in the 15th century. Later, a stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
panel, previously in the nearby Greyfriars monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
, was inserted in the front window of the inn showing the king
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
and queen
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
's individual coats of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
. The other coats of arms are of Cardinal Henry Beaufort, William de la Pole
William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk
William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, KG , nicknamed Jack Napes , was an important English soldier and commander in the Hundred Years' War, and later Lord Chamberlain of England.He also appears prominently in William Shakespeare's Henry VI, part 1 and Henry VI, part 2 and other...
and the local Botlier family. That window is still there, though it is heavily protected.
From the mid 17th century onwards, the King's Head thrived as a coaching inn
Coaching inn
In Europe, from approximately the mid-17th century for a period of about 200 years, the coaching inn, sometimes called a coaching house or staging inn, was a vital part of the inland transport infrastructure, as an inn serving coach travelers...
. The front gateway is smaller than the rear gateway, which was made larger to accommodate the growing size of carriages; the wheel knocking stones still visible at the entrance aligning the carriage wheels as they entered.
In c.1750, innkeeper William Bell converted the cottages (now the public house) to accommodate stagecoaches with room upstairs for his servants. The enclosure of the courtyard with additional stables to the one at the rear, which dates back to the late 16th century, provided housing for nearly thirty horses. The hoop above the mounting block was used to light the way of the coaches by burning rags tied round it. The walls have been limewashed allowing the timbers to breathe, as standard paint will seal in moisture and cause rot. Over time the timbers will show through more as the lime wash weathers away.
Construction
In the Great Hall, the wattle and daubWattle and daub
Wattle and daub is a composite building material used for making walls, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw...
timber construction can be seen on display. Wattle was twigs and branches woven between the upright timber posts. Daub was the name given to clay, lime and horsehair pushed into the wattle frame forming a weatherproof surface.
Notable features
A rare surviving clock decorates the wall, and is a Tavern clock, which is also known as an Act of Parliament clock. In 1797, William Pitt the YoungerWilliam Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...
introduced a tax on all clocks and watches. Because of this public clocks such as these became much more popular to check the time of day. The bar was installed by the Rothschild family
Rothschild banking family of England
The Rothschild banking family of England was founded in 1798 by Nathan Mayer von Rothschild who first settled in Manchester but then moved to London. Nathan was sent there from his home in Frankfurt by his father, Mayer Amschel Rothschild...
who had acquired the property as a hotel in the 19th century. In the snug next to the bar is an example of Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
wallpaper
Wallpaper
Wallpaper is a kind of material used to cover and decorate the interior walls of homes, offices, and other buildings; it is one aspect of interior decoration. It is usually sold in rolls and is put onto a wall using wallpaper paste...
that would once have covered the whole room.
In the late 17th century, the King's Head began taking delivery of mail, which was dropped by horsemen through a hatch behind the mirrors. The room is called the 'Glue Pot' as mail was once sorted and stamped here. Beneath a range of meat hooks is a square patch where the hole for the post would have been dropped into the Glue Pot. It is just the right height for a mail delivery on horseback. The cobbled passage leads into the courtyard that dates back to the early 14th century when it was the original market square. There are three layers of cobblestones.
The English Civil War
At the time of the Civil War, Aylesbury was very much in support of the Parliamentarians against Charles I. It is likely that at some point, Parliamentarian troops would have visited the King's Head. It is thought that Oliver Cromwell was in Aylesbury around 1650, although there is no evidence that he stayed in the King's Head.It is claimed that the inn is linked to other churches and establishments in the town via a system of underground tunnel
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
s that were in use during the Civil War as escape routes should the town be taken by Royalist
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
troops. However, there is no evidence of this and it is more likely that these 'tunnels' are simply cellars.
Following the English Civil War coin
Coin
A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....
s were in short supply. Inns like the King's Head took to minting trade tokens on this site when William Dawney was innkeeper in 1657. They could be used as currency and you can see copies of these tokens on display.
Ghost stories
The supernatural history of the King's Head tells of at least three known ghostGhost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
s to haunt the property. One is that of The Grey Lady, a ghost said to stand by the fireplace in the Great Hall and another has also been seen in the corridor by the red staircase. It is thought that she is a maid who fell to her death in about 1900.
Georgian Room
The GeorgianGeorgian era
The Georgian era is a period of British history which takes its name from, and is normally defined as spanning the reigns of, the first four Hanoverian kings of Great Britain : George I, George II, George III and George IV...
Room is so called because of the style of panel on the walls, which date from between 1714 and 1837. The Hussar
Hussar
Hussar refers to a number of types of light cavalry which originated in Hungary in the 14th century, tracing its roots from Serbian medieval cavalry tradition, brought to Hungary in the course of the Serb migrations, which began in the late 14th century....
's belt and satchel on the wall belong to the Royal Bucks Hussars. The belt would have held a decorative sword used by the mounted cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
of the 19th Century. The satchel is surrounded by silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
braid
Braid
A braid is a complex structure or pattern formed by intertwining three or more strands of flexible material such as textile fibres, wire, or human hair...
with 'VR' surmounted by a crown on the centre panel.
Gatehouse Chamber
One of the grandest rooms at The King's Head is the Gatehouse Chamber. This dates from the mid 16th century but in the 17th century Assize Courts met here to discuss criminal cases. Judges would announce their verdicts out of the front window of the chamber, which would have then overlooked the Market Square. The first floor offered the judge both prestige and protection from possible angry locals. Amongst the many judges who visited the King's Head was the infamous Judge George JeffreysGeorge Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys
George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys of Wem, PC , also known as "The Hanging Judge", was an English judge. He became notable during the reign of King James II, rising to the position of Lord Chancellor .- Early years and education :Jeffreys was born at the family estate of Acton Hall, near Wrexham,...
. In 1700 local magistrates considered converting the King's head into an overflow jail, but the sum of £400 for refurbishment was thought to be prohibitively expensive. The main feature of the room is the ceiling, which is the work of the Victorian architect George Devey
George Devey
George Devey was a British architect, born in London, the second son of Frederick and Ann Devey. Devey was educated in London, after leaving school he initially studied art, with an ambition to become a professional artist...
who was commissioned by the Rothschild family
Rothschild family
The Rothschild family , known as The House of Rothschild, or more simply as the Rothschilds, is a Jewish-German family that established European banking and finance houses starting in the late 18th century...
in the 1880s to undertake changes to The King's Head. He was responsible for offsetting the front window to retain the view of the Market Square. He also remodelled the ceiling in a mock Tudor style using some of the original beams, but the black and white design is a Victorian idea of how Tudor buildings looked. Tudor rooms could, in fact, be quite colourful. The large medieval hearth was moved here from the Great Hall. It is etched with graffiti, possibly by Roundhead troops whilst garrisoned here during the English Civil War.
Solar room
The Solar room, built directly above the Great Hall was the master bedroom and, according to local folklore, it was the suite where King Henry VIIIHenry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
wooed Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...
in 1533. It is claimed that Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
stayed at the King's Head in 1651 after the Battle of Worcester
Battle of Worcester
The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 at Worcester, England and was the final battle of the English Civil War. Oliver Cromwell and the Parliamentarians defeated the Royalist, predominantly Scottish, forces of King Charles II...
and received the thanks of Parliament in Market Square, although there is no evidence for this. However if Cromwell did stay here, this is the room that he would have stayed in. Flintlock pistols and sword
Sword
A sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration...
s were found earlier in the 20th Century in a 'priest hole' and suggest that Roundhead troops were at one time garrisoned at the property. The roof is Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
except for the original tie beam and Queen post frame in the back wall. The room was originally accessed from the ground floor by a newel stair, which is a spiral staircase inside a tower.
Dining room
The Dining room was built in the late 19th century when the King's Head was a hotel. George Devey inserted the oak panels. The room originally had two fireplaces and it was here, in November 2003, that the ghost of a nun was seen. The nun had been seen before, but only ever appearing to ladies, and the dining room itself was built on land that once belonged to the church or friary.The National Trust
After a number of years serving as a hotel as part of the Rothschild business empire, the property was gifted to the National TrustNational Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
in 1925, a fact commemorated by a plaque at the site. The Trust are developing the site to serve as a focal point for the community of Aylesbury. Events held on the property include Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, fighter pilot and screenwriter.Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, he served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence agent, rising to the rank of Wing Commander...
Day and gardening fairs, planned by the National Trust staff. Visitors to Aylesbury are still able to go to the inn and purchase alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
ic beverages in the same way that they would in any other pub.
The pub, The Farmers' Bar within The King's Head site has been run by The Chiltern Brewery since 2005.