Above postcard date unknown.

Above postcard, date unknown.

Above postcard, date unknown. Kind permission from Eric Hartland.

Above photo 2013.

Bull Hotel 2010.

Above drawing, date unknown.

Above sign, 2013.

From http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk

 The Complete History, as we Know it.

This inn known by the name and sign of the Bull was built during the reign of Richard II, in 1385. Though this original structure was considerably smaller than the present day edifice.

The house began trading under the sign of the Bull not long after it was built, but it was not until 1495 under the licencing enactment of Henry VII, that the house was granted its first licence. Before that it had been lawful for anyone to keep an ale-house without licence, for it was recognised as a means of livelihood not prohibited by law. Unfortunately the names of those who served ale here before 1495 are unrecorded for parish records do not begin until 1558, however the first keeper recorded under licence is one Mawer Beecher. It is impossible to determine how long he kept the Bull, but one can almost be certain that he died here, for in 1552, it was his son Elisha who was granted a wine licence for the house under the terms of the licensing legislation act of that year.

Elisha Beecher was still here in 1560 and 1562, but 1570 the Bull was kept by Henry Crass, a shoemaker of Wrotham Parish. Crass died here in 1581, whereafter the widow Crass took over the Bull and kept it until her death in 1596. In 1601, the Bull a "hospicum situate and lyeing wythin the parith of rootham, was sold with its wine licence to Jacob Grundy, inkeeper of Gravesend. When he died in 1638 the Bull passed to his son John and Richard, shipbuilders of Gravesend. In 1641, Richard Grundy purchased his brothers share of the Bull, but in 1649 upon his death it passed back to John Grundy heir to the estate of Richard. The following year he sold the inn to Nysall Hodsholl esq. who in that same year of 1650 leased it to Isaac Shoebridge, an inn keeper of Sevenoaks. He served as keeper here until his death in 1673, whereafter his widow Nyomi was granted a lease and kept the Bull until 1678, the year in which she died whereafter her daughter Susannah took over.

In 1682, she married William Evenden, a clothier of Wrotham Parish. In 1685, Cecily Hodshole widow and relict of Nysall sold the Bull to Joseph Matthews, a surgeon of Wrotham with William and Susannah Evenden in occupation. By 1702 William Evenden was the sole licensee, his wife having died in 1700. However by 1703 it was John Saker who was drawing ale at the sign of the Bull, and he continued to do so, until 1730 during which time the inn was sold on two occasions. In 1718, Richard Matthews sold it to Richard Crow, surgeon of Wrotham and he, in 1730 sold it to Hectar Crosby, a victualler of Sevenoaks.

Hector Crosby kept the house until 1753, when he sold it to another innkeeper called John Clifford. During his time here in 1761, the first of two incidents connected to the nefarious activity of smuggling involving the Bull, took place. On the evening of 6th October 1761, three smugglers were fired upon at Fishermans wharf Gravesend, during the course of which one of them, William Styant was mortally wounded. His companions carried him to Wrotham Heath where he was found to have expired. Leaving the body of their friend on the Heath the other two made their way to Wrotham, where they took refreshment at the Bull Inn. However a party of dragoons following close behind discovered the dead man and went to the Bull and arrested the two smugglers called Hide and Stanford. They were later sent for trial at Maidstone and eventually hung on Penenden Heath.

In 1772, John Clifford sold the Bull to Francis Gibbon brewer and maltster of Wateringbury. They leased the Bull to Solomon Brigden. He was still here in 1784 and witnessed the advent of faster mail coaches. The Bull had long been a coaching house but with the improvement of highways and speedier coaches, it became an established staging point. During the height of the coaching era the Bull underwent many changes the existing stables were enlarged to cope with the added volume of team changing that took place here, whilst the inn itself was altered by way of addition, an upper room was converted to a customs office so that His Majestys excise officers could receive and sort the mail delivered by coach.

In 1786, Jeremiah Shadwell took over as keeper of the Bull. He was the brother of Lieutenant Colonel Shadwell, leader of a smuggling gang that used Wrotham as a staging point for contraband ran in from the coast. The gang was known to have frequented the Bull on numerous occasions. On 1st June 1799 the gang leader Shadwell was shot by an army deserter in the inn. His associates pursued and captured the deserter and his companion and duly beat them to death. Jeremiah Shadwell may have been involved in the incident which would explain why he left the inn so suddenly for by the end of June 1799, one John Micklefield was keeping the house and did so for well over the first quarter of the 19th century.

In 1822, whilst in his hands a billiards room was added to the property, which Micklefield advertised as the Bull Commercial Inn and posting house, excellent facilities with reading room, billiard room and good stabling. In 1833, Richard Gibbon sold his brewery to Frederick Leney a coal merchant of Wateringbury. He became Frederick Leney and Son brewers and maltsters coal merchants and brick manufacturers of the Phoenix Brewery. Frederick Leney Junior kept the Bull until 1851 when he handed over to John Goddard Morgan, he in 1857 to Henry Spencer, he in 1863 to Thomas Bowles and he in 1872 to James Edward Shrubsole. During his time here he also kept the Borough Green Hotel. In 1890 he was succeeded by John William Trepess, he in 1894 by Walter Rowe, in 1897 by John Whale, he in 1902 by Mrs E. Hudson, she in 1904 by John Willis, he in 1906 by Henry Maguire and he in 1908 by Henry Short Millet, who kept the house for the duration of world war I, at its close he was succeeded by Alfred John Cape, he in 1921 by Edward Swift he in 1929 by John Cleary, he in 1933 by John Dykes and he in 1936 by Harold Prince.

For much of the second world war the Bull was the haunt of fighter pilots stationed nearby. The Bull remained in the hands of Frederick Leney & Sons Brewery until 1960 when they sold out to the Whitbread Fremlin Brewery. They eventually sold the Bull as a Free House. To-day it is owned by John Michael Dunnell and his wife Elaine.

Passage below from their web site. 2014

The Bull Hotel has catered to the needs of passing travellers and locals alike for over six hundred years. It has appealed to those in search of rest, fortification and good company, providing a quiet, tranquil respite from the troubles of many an age.

With a rich sense of history, The Bull can date its first license back to 1385. After extensive work, the hotel has been restored to its former 14th century glory, showcasing exposed oak beams, an inglenook fireplace and even war time victory stamps still evident on the ceiling.

In the picturesque village of Wrotham, the current owner, Martin Deadman, looks to continue this tradition. At The Bull the accommodation is cosy, clean and comfortable and with the AA Rosette restaurant earning praise from the national press, the service here is friendly, the food is without pretension and the atmosphere is relaxed.

Close to 'The Bull Inn', at Wrotham, is an inscription which reads: "Near this place fell Lieu Colonel Shadwell who was shot to the heart by a Deserter on the morning of the first day of June 1799. The Assassin with another Deserter his companion were immediately secured and brought to justice". There is a detailed epitaph to Colonel Shadwell in All Saints Church, Maidstone.

It turns out Colonel Shadwell was the leader of a gang of smugglers. They used 'The Bull Inn', which was owned by Shadwell's brother, Jeremiah Shadwell, as their headquarters. Wrotham was used by the gang as a staging point for contraband brought in from the coast.

The Deserters had come from the encampment at Cocks Heath (Coxheath), where they had been part of the Volunteer Brigade called into service because of the threat of a Napoleonic invasion. At Wrotham the Deserters were apprehended by Shadwell, but then one of them fired the fatal shot that killed him.

From an email received 26 March 2020.

The above photo was taken in the bar at the front of the building, on the right as you went in through what was at the time, as I remember, the main entrance off the road (Bull Lane).

The gentleman behind the bar is my father. If this was taken in 1948, he will have been 40 years old on 3 February, but it could have been the year before or the year after. 1948 is likely, since the picture being drawn could have been in celebration of his 40th birthday and/or of the birth of my youngest sister (now aged 72) who was born on that very same day.

It shows my father (Eric Herbert Freeman) behind the bar, having the finishing touches put to a drawing of him sitting in front of a bar (not the one actually in the Bull, I think). The drawing is being done in 'oil chalks', a kind of pastel that gives the impression, at a distance, of being an oil painting.

The gentleman in the white coat, who has just looked in from the dining room that was then to the left of the picture, is 'Fred'. Fred was actually Alfredo, a London Italian waiter who worked at Frascati (or just possibly the Trocadero) and was well known to my father from before the war. He worked at the Bull for a time. It could have been a couple of weeks, or it could have been longer. He worked at the Bull either as a busman's holiday, or as a retirement job. I don't know. I was about six years old at the time.

My father told me that Fred had a remarkable skill. If the Bull was busy, he would clear the last dishes and say 'You won't be taking coffee, then, Sir, Madame?' or, if they were slack, 'You would like coffee now?', etc. The customers did as they were bidden, and never took offence.

Yours,

Bill Freeman.