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Maidstone Road
Kipping's Cross
Matfield
https://whatpub.com/wheelwrights-arms
Above postcard, date unknown. |
Above postcard, circa 1913, kindly sent by Rory Kehoe. Not sure which
building housed the forge but the pub is proudly advertising itself as
selling Smith's Lamberhurst Ales & Stout.
Above the image of a Smith's Bitter Ale label from c.1910. |
Above postcard, circa 1921, kindly sent by Rory Kehoe.
Showing the pub advertising Smith & Co's Lamberhurst Ales. Below from
1910.
However, on 9th September 1921, 54 of Smith's 68 tied houses were
auctioned, with the Dartford Brewery Company paying £134, 610 for them.
Of the remaining pubs, clearly some, including this one, were purchased
by E & H Kelsey's Brewery. |
Above postcard, circa 1947, kindly sent by Rory Kehoe. Showing the pub
in the livery of E & H Kelsey's Culverden Brewery, Tunbridge Wells. In
1948, Kelsey's was taken over by J W Green's Phoenix Brewery, Luton,
which in 1954 changed its name to Flower's Breweries. Flower's came to a
sticky end in 1961, when Whitbread's snapped them up. |
Above photo 2010 by Oast House Archives
Creative Commons Licence. |
Above photo kindle sent by Tricia Francis, 5 April 2015. |
Above photo, circa 2016. |
Above photo, 2016. |
Above sign 1960s. |
 
Above sign left, August 1985, sign right 2010.
With thanks from Brian Curtis
www.innsignsociety.com. |
 
Above signs by Tricia Francis 2015. |
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Kent & Sussex Courier, 30, September 1892.
Mr. A. T. Simpson, solicitor, applied for the transfer of the
"Wheelwrights Arms," Matfield Green, from George Carr to Luke Weston.
The learned solicitor reminded their Worships that they refused at the
general annual licensing meeting to transfer the licence, in consequence
of a report from the Sussex Police that the applicant had been twice
previously convicted. Notices had consequently been given afresh, and
the application was now commenced, de novo.
Mr. Simpsons called superintendent Diplock, of the Sussex Police, in
charge of the Uckfield Division, who stated that he knew Mr Weston, who
had kept the "Gun Inn," at Eridge, and he knew nothing against Weston,
except two convictions recorded against him in the report, and one of
these took place six years ago, whilst the other words to respect to a
test case as to distance.
The magistrates unanimously refused to grant the transfer, and Mr.
Simpson therefore gave notice of appeal at the next quarter sessions.
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The Chronicle and Courier, 16 September, 1921.
Lamberhurst Brewery Estate.
Important sale at Tunbridge Wells.
One of the biggest sales of licensed houses held in the provinces in
recent years was conducted by Messrs. Wickenden and Sons at the Pump
Room, Tunbridge Wells, on Friday, when the Lamberhurst Brewery
Estate, comprising 68 lots, came Under the Hammer. The lots sold were:-
....
"Wheelwrights Arms," Matfield, £850....
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Sevenoaks Chronicle and Kentish Advertiser 11 February 1949.
APPLICATIONS.
No opposition was offered to applications for full licences made by Cecil Roland Copplestone, "Wheelwright’s Arms," Matfteld.
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Robert Marshall has kindly sent me the following information, which he
says is typed and mounted in a frame, and obviously used to be part of the
pubs pictures:-
The Inn known as the "Wheelwrights Arms" was built during the reign of
Elizabeth 1 (1558-1603) in the year 1602. When first built it was a farm
dwelling forming part of a considerable estate. In 1651 the house was
purchased by one Daniel Carter, who is recorded as a grocer and baker of the
parish of Brenchley. For many years the house bore the sign of a single
sugar loaf. A sign which for centuries depicted the premises of a grocers.
The origin of which dates back to the reign of Richard 2 (1377-1399).
The Inn is mentioned in a will of 1729 when one Thomas Dalton Sage, a
farmer and grocer of the parish of Brenchley, directed that "My tenement at
Matfield Green, within Brenchlie, known by the signe of the
Sugar Loaf, with its
bakerie and landes therefore belonging, I herebye bequeathe to my wyfe
Elizabethe, whoe upon my passinge shalle inherite my title and deedes."
In 1749 the house was purchased by one Nathan Lockyer, who is recorded as
a grocer and beer retailer of the parish of Brenchley. At this date
alterations were carried out to the building, which consisted of removing
the thatch, wattle and daub and replacing with tiles and a Kentish
weatherboard facade. It is recorded that "a counter was installed at the
southerly extreme of the lower floor." In 1750 a licence was granted to
Lockyer and the house became a registered "Ale house", with Lockyer's wife
Ann the "Tapster" a name given to a woman who operated and controlled an
"Ale House", Lockyer himself continued to retail groceries and bread from
the premises.
In 1848 the house was purchased by one Ira Huggett, a wheelwright of the
parish of Matfield. In 1850, Huggett hung the sign of the "Wheelwrights
Arms".
In the late 1970s, extensive alterations were carried out to the property
to incorporate the bakery and the adjacent doctors house to one building.
The inn has seen and undergone many changes since it was first built but
has still kept its original charm and character. There is also the legend of
a ghost, a former innkeeper's wife Bertha Faulkner, who hung herself at the
Inn in 1920.
Ghosts apart, the Inn to-day gives out the same generous glow and warmth
and hospitality it has done for centuries. So stay awhile, enjoy the fayre
and reflect on those bygone days.
The property is a listed building but was given planning permission in
2020 to be converted into three self-contained cottages for residential use.
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From the https://share.google
By Mary Harris, 29 April 2024.
The picturesque Kent village pub with a more than 250 years' history
set to be developed.
The roadside pub in a Kent village was once so idyllic looking that
it tempted many travelling past to make a stop off for a bite to eat
and a drink. It had been a grocer and a bakers in the mid-17th
century and was pretty as a jigsaw picture, all weatherboard and
tiles, with hanging baskets and terra cotta pots. Matfield is a lovely village and it's under six miles from Tunbridge
Wells. It has what is believed to be the largest village green in
Kent and it comes with a pond with ducks and the quintessentially
English cricket scene each year, with players in whites. The pub, with its beams and hops hanging from them, was a typical
Kentish watering hole and fondly known by some as "the Wheelies". It
had been owned by the Whitbread brewing company, which owned the
nearby Hop Farm at Beltring, where you could see the gargantuan grey
Whitbread dray horses grazing in the fields while on their annual
'summer holidays'. It was also owned by Shepherd Neame, another brewery company with a
rich Kent history. It is Britain's oldest brewer and it was the
first brewer in Faversham. The building The Wheelwright Arms was in dates to 1602. The Grade II
listed building did not start life as a pub. It was in 1750 when a
licence was granted to a Nathan Lockyer that it became a registered
Ale House, with his wife Ann becoming the "tapster", which means she
operated and controlled the Ale House. Nathan continued selling
groceries and bread from the premises. But The Wheelwright Arms, a free house, closed in 2017 and
permission was granted in 2020 on appeal for its conversion into
three self-contained cottages. During the appeal stage, Brenchley and Matfield Parish Council said
in part of its submission: "When trading, the pub was a popular
place to eat, drink and congregate for both the community and
visitors to the village, bringing economic benefits, employment
opportunities and a highly valued community facility in a settlement
with very few amenities." But planning documents from the former pub owners state they tried
unsuccessfully to sell the pub as a continuing business. They said
the village could not sustain all the businesses, and two other pubs
remained in the village. These are the "Star," on Maidstone Road through the village where
the
"Wheelwrights" also was. It's a beautiful sight with its ivy-covered
front, old sun-faded red bricks and flower baskets in the summer.
It's homely and has lovely old wooden floors, beams and a wooden
bar. On the same side, a little way up is the "Poet" at Matfield, which is
set in a 16th century building. It's really a 'dining pub' and the
Michelin Guide describes its "modest rustic style and an atmospheric
little dining room with an inglenook fireplace". And mid-way between Matfield and Brenchley, is the
the "Hopbine" in
Petteridge. It's a classic country inn with local ales and good food
- plus accommodation. The free house has a roaring log fire and
delicious Sunday roast, and during the summer, it held an Oyster and
Wine Festival, which featured local wines from Chapel Down and
Biddenden, and a little bit further way, Simpsons in Canterbury. KentLive understands The Wheelwrights property has been sold to a
developer and work on site is due to start soon. |
LICENSEE LIST
HUGGETT Ira 1848-50+
MARNER George 1881+ (also baker age 35 in 1881 )
CARR George 1892-1901+ (age 61 in 1901)
DEAL George Henry 1911-13+ (age 39 in 1911)
GORRINGE William 1938+
COPPLESTONE Cecil Rowland 1949+
https://pubwiki.co.uk/WheelwrightArms.shtml
Census
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