CINQUE PORTS ARMS Pubs of Dover

DOVER KENT ARCHIVES

PUB LIST

PUBLIC HOUSES

Barry Smith and Paul Skelton

Earliest 1823+

(Name from 1)

(Name from 2)

Cinque Ports Arms

Still open

9 Clarence Place

Claremont Place

01304 245369

Cinque Port Arms date unknown.

Above coloured photos circa 1980 by Barry Smith.

Above photo showing pub in Whitbread's days.

Telegraph sign August 1991.

Above with thanks from Brian Curtis www.innsignsociety.com

As an outlet of Walker, previous to 1814, the sign was "Coach and Horses" and this name is again listed in Pigot's directory of 1823.

An examination of the beams in the sixties of the twentieth century, led to the conclusion that the property was over three hundred years old. A pair of slippers with turned up toes, as worn by the jesters of the day, was discovered in the brickwork. Further corroboration was provided in January 1982 when internal alterations brought to light a large fireplace or inglenook of the early sixteenth century. Perhaps also of interest, was the opinion of the experts at the time that the cellar may well have been part of a previous building. It certainly shows on Harbour Board maps of 1624 but it is not possible to confirm its connection with the trade that year.

The thoroughfare itself had been known as King's Head Street but by 1676 it was referred to as Crane Street or Crane Quay. The houses opposite the pub were fronted by a quay thirty five feet wide. They were taken down between 1812 and 1814. Some may have survived to 1822. I would not know if it applied to those particular houses but up to 1812 the leases in that area were for twenty one years. After that, many were for sixty one years. Prints do exist, one may still have its place on the wall here, which show boats moored opposite the inn.

From the Dover Telegraph and Cinque Ports General Advertiser, Saturday 4 May, 1850. Price 5d.

CORONER'S INQUEST

On Monday evening at 7 o'clock, a jury was empanelled at the "Cinque Ports Arms," at the Pier, before George Thomas Thompson, Esq., Coroner for the Borough, on the body of James Diplock, aged 40 years, one of the men employed in the "diving" department at the Harbour of Refuge Works, who met his death in the morning of that day by injuries sustained from falling from an elevated portion of the Works. On the assembly of the jury Mr. William Parrish was appointed foreman; and they having been severely sworn, a view of the body took place, after which the depositions were made:-

James Morris - I am engaged with the diving bells at the New Harbour Works. I knew the deceased, who was also a diver. This morning, the deceased, with myself and others, was at the works. We were engaged in removing some timber on the top of the pier, a and the deceased ascended to the stage of the "traveller" in order to make a "taught" a chain which was used to prevent its being put in motion by the wind or other causes. His accent was in the customary way. Whether his foot slipped or not I cannot say, but shortly afterwards fell from the stage, passing by the timber on to the stonework, which was just a few courses above the foundation. I think he fell from 20 to 30 feet; and I and others went down directly to pick him up, but before we could do so a wave washed him from the spot, and he floated on the water, motionless, from 15 to 20 minutes ere we could get to him. Deceased was then taken to the engine-house, where Mr. E. Sibbit, surgeon, was already in attendance, and the usual means of restoration was resorted to, but without success. The fall was purely accidental.

William Mantle, labourer at the works, corroborated the above evidence, and stated that restorative means were used by Mr. Sibbit for upwards of an hour and a half.

No other evidence being required by the jury, the Coroner summed up, and a verdict to the following effect was afterwards returned:- That the deceased, James Diplock, was killed by an accidental fall at the works of the new pier.

The deceased was a married man, and had a family of two children. At the close of the investigation Mr. W. Wakeley, the pay clerk at the works, stated that he had instructions from the Messrs. Lee, the contractors, to discharge on their behalf the expenses attending the internment of the deceased, and he had no doubt some provision would be made for the bereaved wife and children.

So to 1859, when the business, yard and stabling was on offer. Its 61 year lease had commenced in 1834. Either then, or privately afterwards, Leney would have gained control.

From the Dover Express and East Kent News, Friday 18 July, 1863.

INFRINGEMENT OF LICENSE

Thomas Middleton, the landlord of the "Cinque Port Arms," pleaded guilty to having his house open at half-past seven o'clock on Sunday morning, when some travellers were there drinking. Defendant said the hovellers came to his house to share their money, after having been at there the whole night, and the Magistrates thought the justice of the case would be met by a fine of 2s. 6d. and costs, 11s. which he paid.

From the Dover Express and East Kent News, Friday 19 April, 1867.

Charles Jans, a Frenchman, was charged with drunkenness and disorderly conduct and wilfully breaking a window at the "Cinque Port Arms Inn," Clarence Place. Mr. Middleton, the landlord of the "Cinque Port Arms," said he had no desire to press the charge if the prisoner paid the amount of the damage, and the man having undertaken to do this, the Bench admonished the defendant, and ordered him to be discharged.

From the Dover Express and East Kent Intelligencer, 20 November, 1868. Price 1d.

DRUNKENNESS

James Horn, a boatman, was charged with being drunk and disorderly and annoying the complainant, Thomas Middleton, in his business. It appeared that the defendant had gone to the house of the complainant, the "Cinque Ports Arms," and requested to be served with beer when he had already had more than enough. The complainant declined to comply, when he became very violent and wanted to fight. The complainant, however, called in the police and had him removed.

It appeared that the defendant was very well behaved when sober, and was the means of supporting an aged mother. The Magistrates, under these circumstances, took a lenient view of the offence, and discharged him with a caution.

From the Dover Express and East Kent Intelligencer, 10 June, 1870. Price 1d.

INFRINGEMENT OF LICENSE

Thomas Middleton, landlord of the "Cinque Port Arms," charged with infringing his license by having customers in his house on Sunday last, was fined 10s. and costs, 10s. 6d., and cautioned that if he was not more careful as to the way in which the house was conducted the chances were that he would lose his license.

From the Dover Express and East Kent Intelligencer, 4 August, 1871. Price 1d.

DRUNKENNESS

Henry Horn, charged with being drunk and obstructing Mr. Middleton, of the “Cinque Ports Arms,” in his business, yesterday, was fined 10s. and costs; in default seven days’ imprisonment.

From the Dover Express and East Kent Intelligencer, 6 September, 1872. Price 1d.

ANNUAL LICENSING MEETING

APPLICATION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME

Mr. Wollaston Knocker appeared in support of an application made by Mr. Middleton, landlord of the “Cinque Port Arms,” Clarence Place, for the extension of the hours during which his house might remain open, under the 26th section of the Act, which gave the Magistrates power to grant special licenses for the convenience of markets, theatres, or those “following any lawing trade or calling.” For ordinary purposes of refreshment the “Cinque Ports Arms” might be regarded as the nearest house to the Admiralty Pier, and he need not remind the Magistrates that a number of persons were in their “lawfull calling” during the night in connection with the arrival and departure of the trains and packets. Boats arrived and departed at all hours, and upon the South-Eastern Railway trains left at 1.40 and 4.45. In attendance upon these packets and trains were a number of licensed porters and others, and it would really be a matter of great inconvenience to a numerous class if they were prevented from obtaining refreshment during the night. He therefore applied, on behalf of Mr. Middleton, that his house might remain open at all times except between the hours of 1 and 2 a.m. Mr. Knocker concluded by handing in a memorial signed by the ticket porters and others employed during the night who were in the habit of obtaining shelter and refreshment at the house of the applicant.

From the Dover Express and East Kent News, Friday 22 May, 1889.

BREAKING GLASS

At the Police Court on Monday, William Fitzgerald was charged with breaking a pane of glass, value £1, at the “Cinque Ports Arms,” Clarence Place. Stephen Harvey, landlord of the “Cinque Ports Arms,” said the prisoner came into his house the worse for drink. He asked for beer, but was refused. He then used abusive language, and refusing to go was put out. The defendant afterwards put his fist through the glass door and broke it. The prisoner, who had been previously convicted, was fined 10s., damage £1, and costs 7s., or in default of payment one month’s imprisonment.

Four a.m. opening was allowed here from 1874 and that became three thirty two years later. Plans for structural alterations were approved in 1921.

Together with its neighbour the "Rose and Crown" this stood in the midst of 8 vast freight clearing area in the seventies and eighties. 1986 saw the closure of the Latter and it remained empty and derelict until mid 1988 when it was repaired and refurbished and became part of the "Cinque Ports Arms". The original order for the stopping up of part of Clarence Place, Elizabeth Street and Council House Street was made in October 1968. The demolition of Beach Street and the flats in Seven Star Street, which was first formed in 1607, was carried out in 1975.

From the Dover Express and East Kent News, Friday, 16 December, 1910

REFRESHMENT LICENCE FOR CHRISTMAS LETTER SORTERS

Mr. Hyde, licensee of the "Cinque Port Arms," Clarence Place, applied for permission to be open from 12.30 a.m. to 3 a.m. on the nights of 23rd and 24th December, for the purpose of supplying refreshments to the Post Office staff engaged in sorting at the Town Station, the number of Christmas letters, etc. making a heavy increase in the work.

It was stated similar permission was given last year, and the application was again granted.

From the Dover Express and East Kent News, Friday, 6 October, 1922. Price 1½d.

LICENSING BUSINESS

An extension was granted to the "Cinque Ports" R.E. Club for a whist drive on Friday.

From the Dover Express 20 December 2007 by Yamurai Zendera

'Del Boy' not happy unless behind a bar.

A JOVIAL pub landlord described as a real-life "Del Boy" has died.

Roger Paul Greaves, 66, who for the past 15 years ran the Cinque Port Arms in Clarence Place, passed away in hospital on Monday, December 10.

Mr Greaves' daughter-in-law Tracey, who is married to his only child Steve, 39, paid tribute to a "real character".

Medical secretary Mrs Greaves, also 39, said: "His claim to fame was selling a poppy to a German - that was the sort of person he was.

"Then there was the time they'd knocked down one of the walls in the pub to renovate it, and he sold the rubble to American tourists off the cruise liners by telling them it was chalk from the White Cliffs of Dover.

"He was a real character, a wheeler dealer like Del Boy you could say."

The mother-of-two added: "He was a real family man who will be sorely missed.

"The night before he died he told his business partners if there was ever a time he could not do his job, he didn't want to live. He was not happy unless he was behind the bar."

Avid Arsenal fan Mr Greaves was born in Suffolk on April 20 1941 and had two sisters.

The family moved to East Anglia from Dover during the Second World War and returned when he was five.

He attended Barton Road School before starting at the Dover Engineering Works. He then had a short stint in the building trade and later worked on cross-Channel ferries before taking over the Cinque Port Arms with two business partners in 1992.

Mr Greaves' funeral took take place at Barham Crematorium on Friday 21 Dec 2007 at 2.40 pm.

From the Dover Mercury, 17 September, 2009.

Docks historic pub saved from fire.

By Beth Easton.

DOZENS of fire-fighters from across Kent battled to stop a fierce fire spreading at a historic pub in Dover's western Docks.

Six fire engines were called to tackle the flames at the Cinque Port Arms, which is almost 400 years old, on Friday evening.

Landlord Michael Milburn has praised crews for saving the pub after the blaze broke out in a separate porch at 6.41pm.

"It has totally destroyed the back part or the building but we're on top of it," be said.

"Luckily the wind was blowing away from us so that saved us and stopped the pub filling with smoke.

"It's business as usual but it's going to need a lot of alterations.

"Thanks go to the fire service for getting it under control."

The pub was busy at the time the fire broke out, and customers and staff were evacuated from the three-storey building along with those from the nearby Customs office.

The landlord, who lives above the bar, along with a number of staff, could not satisfy fire officers there were adequate means of escape for those living there.

He has been served with a prohibition order to ensure he improves safety measures.

The landlord said: "It was lucky it was early evening when it happened."

Kent Fire and Rescue spokes-woman Faye Kavvadias said the fire was thought to be an accident, with sparks from smoking materials causing the flames.

"Ninety per cent of the building adjacent to the pub was destroyed and 10 per cent of the main building was affected.

"Fire crews fought really hard to prevent the fire spreading to the main building."

By 7.45pm, the operation was scaled down.

Police were at the scene for traffic control.

Crews left two hours later but attended again at 2.45am to check it had not reignited.

From the Dover Express, 17 September, 2009.

Cigarette end blaze damages pub

Above photo by Alistair Brenchley.

A CARELESSLY discarded cigarette is believed to have caused the fire which destroyed a Dover pub on Friday (September 11).

Kent Fire and Rescue Service was alerted to the blaze at the Cinque Port Arms in Clarence Place at 6.41pm.

At the height of the fire, five engines and a height vehicle were called to the scene to stop the flames spreading.

The blaze is believed to have started in one of the pub's outbuildings and is not being treated as suspicious.

Customers were evacuated from the premises.

Ten per cent of the pub, which included the back porch, toilet roof and some window frames, were destroyed by the fire.

A Kent Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: "The fire-fighters worked really hard to bring the fire under control and ensure it did not cause even more damage than it did."

From the Dover Express, 17 September, 2009.

PAIR PLAN TO CHANGE PUB'S BAD REPUTATION

After big refurbishment The Cinque Port Arms reopens

Report by Yamurai Zendera

THE new leaseholders of The "Cinque Port Arms" in Dover plan to make its bad reputation a thing of the past.

Couple Andy Snelgrove and Kat Beaty have spent the last six weeks renovating the pub situated at the Western Docks in order to reinvent it as a family friendly venue offering food and drink and a place to sleep.

The 29-year-old Kat said: "About 20 years ago when it first started it was very successful, very busy.

Just in the last six years it went downhill. It was more known as a drugs house after hours. But we have clamped down on that and we have no tolerance for drugs.

"It's going to be changed back to having a good reputation for good food and drink and clean bed-and-breakfast accommodation and rooms to let. A place where families with young children are welcome."

Kat and Andy 61, had a massive refurbishment job on their hands when they began but Kat said it was their dream to run their own pub since getting together two years ago.

She said: "We wanted to work together and spend more time with each other.

"The opportunity came up and we took it.

"I used to work with my brother in a restaurant near Brighton and Andy was a truck driver but he's had previous experience of owning pubs on and off for the last 20 years."

The couple, who met in Dover through a mutual friend, believe they can succeed where many other pubs have failed since the smoking ban came into force.

Kat said: "I think we can make a good go of it and get it up again. We want to push the food sales. There are a steady stream of customers like builders, truckers, the customs officers and cruise terminal users."

The couple expect to complete refurbishment work next month, although the pub is already open for business.

From the Dover Express, Thursday 13 January 2011.

From the Dover Express, Thursday, 10 November, 2011. 60p

PUB TO DONATE TO LEGION

A pub has announced it is to donate part of its Sunday lunch profits to the Royal British Legion.

The "Cinque Port Arms" in the western Docks is putting on a Remembrance Sunday dinner from midday to 4pm on November 13.

The three-course meal includes a glass of wine and is priced at £15.95.

The pub is giving 20 per cent of its profits as a donation.

From the Dover Express, Thursday, 1 December, 2011. 60p

PUB GHOST BOOK'S GOT SPIRITS GALORE

Author finds histories of haunted boozers

Report by Mike Sims

FROM tales of a man killed in a pub and thrown down a well to details of the ghostly Lydd pub previously owned by a man called Lepper, a new book about haunted watering holes features ten across Shepway and Dover.

Donald Stuart, the Journalist turned author who has completed Haunted English Pubs 2011, visited more than 1,000 towns and villages including Sandgate, Elham, Lydd, Hythe, Dover, Deal and Aldington and discovered haunted yarns galore.

Mc Stuart, who is a member of the Ghost Club, said: "With many of England's ancient pubs disappearing, this is a timely account of some of their paranormal associations."

Uniform

Tales include the Fish Lady at the "Ship Inn" In Sandgate, a woman who appears reeking of fish, and a solider in Victorian uniform In the same pub.

The "Bell Inn" in Hythe has a 'grey lady' who died during childbirth haunting its cellars. The "George Hotel" in Lydd has the ghost of young officer John McKenzie who was killed in a battle between smugglers and revenue men and the "King's Head" in Deal is haunted by a man wearing cricket clothes, according to the book.

Mr Stuart, 76, said: "I have not set out to prove or disprove the existence of such claims. I have merely recorded what has been reported in myth and legend over the years.

Other accounts in the book include locked and bolted doors bursting open in the "King's Head" in Hythe, several phantom children in Victorian dress gracing the "Walnut Tree" in Aldington and a haunting comedian in the "Cinque Port Arms" in Dover - the only pub in England to have the ghost of a comic.

LICENSEE LIST

JELL Henry 1791 (Clarence Place)

ATKINS 1805 (Clarence Place) This name also appears at the "Black Pig" the same year.

1823 called Coach and Horses

EASTES R 1828-30