Winteringham Local History and Genealogy at winteringham.info

Six Village Alehouses!

Almost 400 years ago there were no fewer than six pubs, inns and alehouses in the village!  These were probably called the Ferry Boat (or Ferry House), The Bay Horse, Waterside Inn, the Ship Inn, the Three Horse Shoes and the New Mown Hay.

By 1792 three alehouse licences to unnamed establishments were issued, and by 1823 there are records for the Ferry Boat (Ann James), the Bay Horse (William Bell) and the Three Horse Shoes (John Holmes). By the time of White’s 1842 Directory the names of the Inns were the Bay Horse, The Ferry House, and the Ship!  If that were not confusing enough, it appears that the Bay Horse as we know it, was the original site of the Ferry Boat Inn - being purchased in 1818 by John Burkill and apparently renamed the Bay Horse ... hence if, as is likely, Dick Turpin stayed at the inn at Gate End, it would be known as the Ferry Boat at that time!

Anopther famous person to have stayed at one of the village Inns was Dr William Stukely in 1724.

The Ferry Boat and the Bay Horse were frequently the scenes of major village events and celebrations, and it was ironically the building of the Temperance Hall, which saw many of these functions taken to that building in West End.  The Court Leet was often held at the Ferry Boat, including one occasion in October 1827, as were many of the meetings concerning the enclosure of Winteringham and the buildings of the Haven drain, the banks, the clough, and the roads in the 1790s.

Bay Horse 1842 William Bell 1851 William Bell 1856 William Bell 1861 William Bell 1861 William Bell 1868 William Bell 1885 Robert Bell 1889 Elizabeth Hatter 1901 Goodman John E 1905 Goodman John E 1909 Goodman John E 1919 John W Birkinshaw   Ferry Boat Inn 1842 Ann James (“Ferry House”) 1851 William Kendall 1856 William Kendall (“Ferry House”) 1861 William Parker (“Ferry House”) 1861 census - see “Ship Inn” 1868 John Slater (“Ferry House”) 1885 Robert Cook Thornton (“Ferry Boat Inn”) 1889 Robert Cook Thornton (“Ferry Boat Inn”) 1901 Walter T Thornton 1905 Walt. Thos. Thornton (“Ferry Boat Inn”) 1909 James Sharpe (“Ferry Boat Inn”) 1919 Mary E Field (“Ferry Boat Inn”)   Ship 1842 Thomas Ogg 1861 William Parker   Waterside Beerhouse 1842 John Waddingham 1851 John Waddingham 1856 John Waddingham 1861 John Waddingham 1861 John Waddingham 1868 John Waddingham

The above lists are from Directories and Censuses of Winteringham. Intriguingly, the 1861 census lists William Parker as Innkeeper at the Ship (in the area where the Ferry Boat Inn is), whilst the 1861 Post Office Directory of the same year states that he is at the “Ferry House”.

Mary Field’s husband was killed in the Great War, and is remembered on the village War Memorial. See the Remembrance page.