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From the
http://downeopc.blogspot.com accessed 3 June 2019.
The Old Bell Inn Bromley.
The parish registers contain some clues and other records are associated
with the Inn.
In the burial register for 1652 there are two mentions of the burials of
the Gyles brothers, sons of Daniell Gyles of "the belle".
We later have records of the Wilson family who from 1773 until 1822 were
Master of the posting house. James Wilson and then his widow and family
all acted as landlords; during this time the Beefsteak Club was formed in
Bromley and many notable gentry characters united in a love of sport met
there.
The Wilsons were succeeded from 1823 to 1845 by James Painter Davis and
his daughter. Davis was an enthusiastic cricketer. His daughter Mary Ann
Davis took over when he moved to Farningham until 1845 when she left.
Horsburgh describes her leaving to fulfil an appointment as housekeeper
to the Lord Mayor of London at the Mansion House but there appears to be
no documentary evidence to support Horsburgh's account. From 1846 until
it's demolition and rebuilding in 1897 it was run by William Sutton and
his family. The neighbouring bakers shop in Market Square was also
demolished and the site was incorporated in the rebuilding of the Royal
Bell Hotel that we see today.
Before the coming of the railway to the town Bromley was something of a
rural market town some 12 miles from London. It is often described as
such but it had a constant passage of horse drawn traffic between
London, Tunbridge Wells and Hastings.
The Bell and another Bromley Inn, the "White Hart" grew to serve this
traffic and the local population. The stage coach service between London
and Tunbridge Wells and onward to Hastings had need of a staging point
in the town and the Bell and "White Hart" could stable up to 100 horses
for travellers.
Two coaches a day left Bromley at 9 a.m. in the summer or 7:30 a.m. in
winter. One coach travelled to the Boars Head Fleet Street the other for
the Spread Eagle, Gracechurch Street. Over time additional stage coaches
added to the service with two to Charing Cross and an additional coach
to Gracechurch Street until the railway arrived in the town.
In addition there were two local daily carrier carts to London and these
are recorded as late as 1884. Consequently the Bell found fame and Jane
Austen in Pride and Prejudice has Lady Catherine de Bourgh recommend to
Elizabeth that she change horses at the Bell.
There are also references to death's of those accommodated at the Bell
overnight in the parish register and adjacent to the Market Square. It
was also popular for travellers at market days and the ancient Fair
days. Bromley although rural has a surviving 1801 census with a total
population of 2,700 (including schools and Bromley College which housed
widows and families of deceased clergy). Bromley's population of
permanent residents hardly increased over decades.
Bromley has for centuries been a place for Romany and other travelling
families and the parish registers record substantial burials of
traveller families who were a feature of Bromley Common and seasonal
fruit pickers and agricultural workers can be found to move through and
work the land.
One cause for increase in population was the attraction of permanent
residence to be under the care and supervision of Mister James Scott who
until retirement in 1829 to Clay Hill had become renowned as a surgeon
specialising in diseased joints and ulcerated hips. He had succeeded
Mister Bagshaw in his medical practice in Bromley. Thus the town
attracted patients and residents and there is a notable decline in
population after his retirement. "Scotts Coaches" brought patients from
all over the country to the practice.
The Bell became "Royal" when royal coaches began to change horses there
and in this respect it came to attract a different clientele to it's
companion the "White Hart".
Bromley had resident ostlers and stage coach men and traffic between
nearby "Croyden" and between Bromley Bishop's Palace and Rochester was
also undertaken. The initial passenger bus services between the town and
outlying villages and parishes like Keston, Downe and Cudham were horse
drawn and necessary to connect to the rail services which developed
after the 1850's when the town rapidly expanded to occupy the land to
the south and east along Bromley Common and north to created the need
for a branch railway line to Bromley North.
Copyright (c) Henry Mantell 2013.
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