Plaque number 80 can be found at this location.
The plaque can be found on the side of the Red Lion Inn in Milford Street.
The O/S grid position is SU nnnnn East nnnnn North.
Known in 1756 as the Red Lion and
Cross Keys, this inn was famous for a
regular daily stage coach service.
It is a fine example of an 18th century
coaching inn with the high arch and
spacious courtyard. The southern
medieval wing was built between
1280-1320 as a hostel for draughtsmen
constructing the Cathedral.
Plaque presented by W.E.Thomas
Anyone fighting his or her way down Castle Road at 8 a.m on market day will need little convincing that Salisbury has always been a magnet for traffic. The city lies at the intersection of one of the principal routes westward from London and the road from Southampton to Bristol. John Chandler has pointed out (in Endless Street) that six of the principal roads of the kingdom radiate from Salisbury and "of the cities of southern England only London, Exeter and Bristol could boast so many". In medieval times, exports of wool and finished cloth passed through the city to Southampton, and Salisbury was an inland distribution centre for imports of essentials for the cloth trade (such as dye) and luxury goods bound for London. Its importance as a hub for passenger traffic grew during the 18th century following the development of turnpike roads, which were maintained by trusts levying tolls on users. First to be turnpiked was the road to Southampton, and by 1770 nearly 6,000 wheeled vehicles per year were using it. Later the Warminster, Mere and Devizes roads were taken over by trusts. In 1773 it was estimated that over 200 passengers travelled between Salisbury and London every week. Journey times shrank to a degree that would not be matched until the coming of the railways two generations later.
Overnight stops were still a frequent necessity, however, and the swelling numbers of passengers increased the demand for accommodation. In addition, "alcohol could be used as a remedy for most of the discomforts of the road" (Endless Street). New building and additions to existing inns grew steadily from the 16th century but the 18th century was the heyday of the coaching inn. Apart from supplying accommodation, inns often served as departure terminals. By this time, the inn we know as the Red Lion Hotel was already long established. Easton's 1797 guide to Salisbury mentions "a light coach from the Red Lion on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings at 5 o'clock (to London), a coach to Taunton Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings early and coaches alternately to Bath and Bristol every day (except Saturday) at 11 o'clock". Coaches formed an important part of the postal service and so it was probably very convenient that Daniel Safe, Salisbury postmaster, transferred the post office to the Red Lion when he bought it in 1766. Under the previous owner (Ralph Musselwhite) it had already served as the local excise office. The scope and speed of the coach service grew. In 1777 the Salisbury Flying Machine offered travellers the chance of a trip to London and back in a day. It left the Red Lion at 10 p.m. each night arriving at London (Ludgate Hill) at 1 p.m. the following day "for the better conveyance of passengers who may want to go farther the same day". They must have had enormous stamina. In 1790 the fare to London was £1 inside and 10 shillings outside. To give some idea of contemporary earnings, in that year the average daily wage for a craftsman in the building trade was 3 shillings and 7 pence. Later, the Red Lion was a stopping point for the Quicksilver Mail service from London to Exeter. Famously, in 1816 the coach was attacked outside the Pheasant at Winterslow by a lion which had escaped from a menagerie. In a previous incident in 1750 a coach on this route overturned in the River Bourne at St Thomas's Bridge, nearly drowning all its passengers.
By 1830 the Red Lion's share of the postal service was dwindling. From being the main postal depot, it now had only one mail coach arriving and one departing per day, which put it on a par with the Lamb and the Antelope. For comparison, the White Hart had six arrivals and departures per day, and the Black Horse five. Overall, however, the coaching trade still flourished. A survey carried out in 1839 estimated that on the London route alone an annual total of 37,000 passengers was carried.
It did not last. In March 1847 the London and South Western's railway line started carrying passengers to Southampton, and in 1857 the direct rail link to London was established. The consequent demise of the mail coach forced the Red lion and its competitors to seek business elsewhere. However, the new mode of transport provided opportunities which could be exploited. The Red Lion provided a bus service to meet every train, and became a well-known stopover for commercial travellers.
While there are a number of sources for the later history of the inn, medieval material is sparse. The plaque mentions the south wing being built as a hostel for draughtsmen working on the cathedral. This seems to be an oral tradition, though none the less credible for that. The south wing is certainly medieval. Recent refurbishment uncovered a fireplace which is similar to one found at Old Sarum. This part of the building is timber framed and the roof has collared rafters. In many places the removal of plaster has revealed wattle-and-daub walls. The north wing, arch and iron inn sign standard date from 1832.
First mention of the site is as Duynescorner (corner of Milford St and Brown St), named after Agnes la Duynes who owned it in 1327. From 1338 to 1350 the site was owned by Henry Burry (Mayor in 1323). In 1361 the Buterlegh family acquired it, and in 1395 ownership of Duynescorner and an adjacent bakehouse in Brown St passed from John Buterlegh to John Camel, a grocer. In 1397 Camel left the entire site to his daughter Agnes, wife of Laurence Gowayne. In 1455 the bakehouse site was given to the vicars choral, who held it until the 19th century. In the 17th century the "great hall of the White Bear" stood west of the bakehouse.
In 1483 the tenement at the north west corner of the chequer was called Berecorner. The original name of the inn was the White Bear. Later deeds relating to adjacent tenements show that the buildings were part of the inn. The Berecorner tenement probably extended to include the present yard and garage. A list of inn licenses granted between 1635 and 1685 includes Mr Wm Raye of the White Beare. It is shown under this name in a list of 1701, the licensee then being William James, but the name later changed to the Red Lion and Cross Keys. The reason for this choice of name is unclear - inns near churches dedicated to St Peter often incorporate the crossed keys in their name, but there is no church of St Peter nearby. The cross keys element was dropped in 1769 and the inn has since then been known as the Red Lion. Even if its origin as a draughtsmen's hostel is discounted, the Red Lion's claim to be the longest running purpose built hotel in the country is probably well founded.
The plaque was donated by W.E.Thomas, son of Charles and Elsie Thomas who bought the Red Lion in 1913. Elsie took over the licence when Charles went off to the First World War, and kept it until her death in 1973. Remarkably, perhaps, for a licensee, she never touched alcohol or tobacco. Charles was a prominent citizen and was elected Mayor in 1938. W.E. (Bill) Thomas and his wife Jan joined Elsie to run the Red Lion after Charles' death in 1959. Bill and Jan retired in 1977, and the management was then taken over by Bill's sister Molly Maidment and her family. Her son, Michael, who became the Licensee, and his wife, Jill, continue to run the hotel with support from their son, Charlie. The Thomas/Maidment family has thus been in charge of The Red Lion for just short of a hundred years.
Endless Street - John Chandler, Hobnob Press 1983
The Inns of Salisbury - Roland Graham Gordon 1988 - manuscript book held by Salisbury library (SAL647) - pages 67 and 475.
The ancient trade guilds and companies of Salisbury - Charles Haskins published Bennett 1912 - page 329
Coaching Inns - Daphne Bampton - Wiltshire and Wessex Life December 1975
Child of the Red Lion - an hotelier's story - Molly Maidment published Ex Libris 1989
Aspects of Salisbury's place in the Wiltshire cloth industry - Mary Dauncey - Hatcher Review Vol 3 no 28, p385
The Salisbury Guide 19th edition, 1797 - James Easton (via Google) - page 93
History of Modern Wiltshire - Hoare, Benson and Hatcher - published by John Bowyer Nichols and Son, 1843 ( Salisbury volume - page 820)
Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England) report on Salisbury 1980 - p109
The National Archive currency convertor
Thanks are due to Helen Taylor of the Swindon and Wiltshire History Centre and especially to Michael Maidment, who provided much of the information on which this note is based.
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