The Royal Castle Hotel


LOCAL HISTORY from the Dartmouth History Group


The Old Pubs of Dartmouth I


f you could go back to the Dartmouth of a hundred and fifty years ago you would find


the town very different from the pretty and pleasant place it is today. In those days Dartmouth was a busy commercial port, and by modern standards it would be considered dirty, smelly and cramped. Trading vessels, many still under sail, would come and go. The crews of these ships had often been at sea for many long months, and when they finally set foot on dry land again there were only two things they wanted – alcohol, and female company. So, Dartmouth’s 19th


century pub


trade flourished. In the 1850s there were over twenty licensed premises in the town. Many consisted of little more than the front room of someone’s house or shop where foaming pints of beer – often brewed in the back room – would


The Royal Oak


There was a natural tendency for these pubs to gather close to the waterfront and many of the buildings they occupied still exist today. The property at the end of Lower Street, looking towards the ferry slip and now a Chinese restaurant, used to be the Royal Oak (picture). There is a reference to this pub changing ownership in 1782, and from 1823 onwards the Royal Oak was run by Giles and Margaret Pope for nearly forty years. When a publican died his licence was frequently taken over by his widow, as was the case with the Pope’s. There are numerous incidents


be dispensed to thirsty sailors. Landlords would usually live with their families on the premises, and census returns of the time show that quite often a number of young female “servants” would also be resident at the pub. The nature of the services provided by these ladies can be left to the imagination.


Many consisted of little more than the front room of someone’s house or shop where foaming pints of


beer – often brewed in the back room


of this happening in the history of Dartmouth’s pubs. A wife’s ability to outlive her husband, particularly if he were a publican, seemed to be even greater in the 19th


century than it is


today. Across the road from the Royal


Oak was the Marine Tavern, demolished in 1929 to make access to the Lower Ferry easier for the growing number of motorised vehicles on the roads. The Marine Tavern was one of many Dartmouth pubs to have more than one home. In the early 1800s it was situated closer to the river bank, and was run there for many years by Thomas Perring Tipper, a gentleman of some note in the annals of Dartmouth history. Thomas died at the pub in 1870 having, according to the records, been “seized with apoplexy”, and the Marine moved to its final location in 1907. Of course some of Dartmouth’s oldest pubs have survived to the present day. The Seven Stars (pictured opposite) in Smith Street claims to be the town’s oldest pub – although the Royal Castle Hotel might dispute this. The Seven Stars was certainly running as a pub in the early 18th


century, and the building it occupies dates from the century


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140