The Inns
In 1839 there were three inns with a fourth a few decades later –
Originally, in 1833, the property consisted of a piece of land with a dwelling house thereon. A lease of 28th November, 1835, from a Mr. Jones to a Mr. John Gill gives the interesting information that, in consideration of the sum of 5/~ paid by the said John Gill, the land with dwelling house erected thereon, was granted on a lease to him for one year on payment of a rent of one peppercorn at the end of the term. In 1839 a Mr. Jones was the occupier of a public house here, so that it seems probable that the latter dates sometime between 1833 and 1839. In 1882 the property was a beer house known as the Brewers' Arms. The present premises were erected in 1933/54 on the site of four cottages, nearby the old inn. Of interest are the two stone frogs sitting on either side of the steps at the entrance. The local name "The Frog" has aroused a great deal of conjecture and we offer two explanations -
(a) It seems probable that the name is derived from the nearby property of Froghall which in its turn may have come from the large number frogs in that low and damp district.
(b) In a book about English Inn Signs the meaning of Froghall is said to have developed from the place name Frog Hall "which like Rats Castle, Bats Hall, Owl Castle, etc; is supposed to have been applied to a ruined building."
The old inn stood on cobblestones on the Turnpike road, looking across to the manor house, Upton Hall. In the 1890s it was open from 6 a.m. - 10 p.m. week-days, and on Sundays from 12.50 - 2.50 p.m. and 6 p.m.- 10 p.m. If anyone had travelled a distance of over three miles he could demand refreshments at any time of (52) the day on Sunday up to 10 p.m. Beer was 2 ˝ d a pint and cigarettes 6d for twenty. Bread and cheese were available free of charge.
About 1900, in so far as Upton Hall and "The Frog" people and the surrounding cottages were concerned, their only means of posting letters was to meet the horse-drawn van about 9.45 p.m. at "The Frog". If no stamps were available, the driver was plied with beer and the letters always reached their destination.
The Egerton Arms.
We have been unable to find out when first
an inn was built on the site of the present one, though it seems very likely
that there was a coaching inn here on the Turnpike road in bygone years.
Reference is often made in old books to a house at Bache Pool used as a meeting
place for ratepayers and overseers, during the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, which would most likely be an old inn. From 1860-77 the meetings
were definitely held at the Egerton Arms,
or Bache Hotel as it was also called. The proprietor in 1859 was George Rolinson. In 1911 Sir Philip B.Grey-Egerton
sold to the Northgate Brewery the public house with its yard. and gardens,
known as the Egerton Arms.
Upton Cross.
(Victoria Hotel)
Upton
Cross, now a private residence, was once an inn. It stands at the meeting of
the roads leading to Upton Heath, the Bache and Newton; crossroads where
animals who died of the Plague are reputed to have been butted, and where an
old village cross was supposed to have stood; but we have no records of either.
The age is unknown and the original house had additions made prior to 1862.
From its style it would appear to be late eighteenth century. Mention has been
made of cockfighting taking place there about 1790. The house was built on land
called
Sand-hole Croft. In 1859 the owner was John Axe and the inn was called the
Victoria Hotel. In a mid-century History (book) we read "The Victoria Tea
Gardens, the property of Mr. John Axe, are extensively and tastefully laid-out
with shrubs, flowers and evergreens, and form a place of great (55) attraction
in the summer season to the numerous visitors who have the pleasure of paying a
visit to them." Mr. Axe was there until about 1859. Between 1859 and 1862
the property was sold to Peter Eaton and he in turn sold it to Messrs. C. W.
and C. Potts in March 1862. Between these dates it became a private residence.
Until 1904 it remained in the possession of the Potts family, who let it to
various tenants, one being a Miss Longueville who attained the great age of 97
while living there.
There
are several interesting features connected with this attractive, house in its
delightful setting of trees and lawns and flower beds:-
(a) In the front garden is the old cockpit, now a sunken flower garden with its Sundial. Gentry came from many surrounding villages to attend cockfighting here, and during the Chester Races spent their evenings at the cockpit in the Victoria Hotel grounds. In the yard at the back was a skittle alley used for a favourite pastime of the village folk. In 1849 Mr. Axe decided to open the tea gardens referred to earlier, and. possibly the sundial dates from the same time.
(b) In 1947 was cut down a yew tree planted in 1860, but with no record as to why it was planted.
(c) On an outside wall overlooking the yard hangs a bell, but Mr. Stobbart, the present occupant, cannot give any explanation for it.
(d) Lastly, the names for the inn supplied by the villagers have been varied and, in one case obvious. They are:- The Pig & Whistle, The Brown Cow, The Seven Sisters, and Axe's Hole. A first line of a rhyme remembered by one of our older inhabitants runs as follows:- "Axe's Hole when cherries are ripe." Unfortunately no-one remembers the rest or to what it refers.
This the newest of our original inns, but whereas they have been rebuilt and renovated, it looks the oldest and has altered little since 1893.
In 1839 there were the cottages near where it now stands and a pool which stretched across what is now a yard and garden. A Mr. Knight came into possession of this plot of land in 1845 and a few years later built a wheelwright's shop thereon. About 1850 he built a bake-house near this shop. Between 1857 and 1861 he altered and converted the bakehouse into a dwelling house, which sometime between 1864 and 1867 became a public house, operated by Mr. Knight himself. The Birkenhead Brewery Co. 'acquired the house from Mr. Thomas Knight on 17th February, 1877.
In
1934 an outside covered stairway was erected to render more easily available a
large room for the use of the British Legion.
The name is a common one in agricultural parts of the county.