History of The Wyndham Arms
Nobody really knows when the Wyndham Arms first came into being! There are many stories and theories of course.
The one that makes sense to me is the story given to me by Julian who was landlord one or two before last. Julian was a bit of an expert in old buildings and left us a super drawing still hanging in the main bar showing a number of views of the building over the years that speaks volumes.
It is said that the first building on the site was a cottage built by the stonemasons who built the church next door – St Marys.
Now we are pretty sure that this was built 750 years ago as we celebrated its birthday recently.
What happened to that original cottage we don’t know but we do know that from those early beginning came the Wyndham Arms as we now know it.
The original building is the one on the left as one faces the pub from the square and the other side did come later. Again I refer to the drawing that Julian did for us that hangs in the main bar.
The building certainly looked much as it did at the turn of the 20th Century just before the Great War as a photograph hangs also in the main bar depicting a tea party held in the square to celebrate the coronation, I think of George V.
The only noticeable change is that the front entrance that is now blocked off vanished in the 50’s, I believe as the bar was moved to be across that wall at that time from the other side and what we now call the “snug” at the rear of the building is where the cellar used to be.
The wing where the dining room and the kitchen are a later addition, exactly when is not known.
The pub has had many owners and landlords – far too many to mention but has been in decline now for quite sometime. Enterprise bought it for their portfolio some years ago and it has been neglected over that period until this year when they injected a great deal of money into it as have the current leaseholders with tremendous support of the local community which has restored it to the wonderful pub and restaurant that it is today.
If anyone reading this knows more please, please let us know as we are very eager to learn more and get it right!!
Otter Bitter (3.6abv) and Otter Ale (4.5abv)