Old Crown, Birmingham
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The Old Crown, a
pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...
in
Deritend Deritend is a historic area of Birmingham, England, built around a crossing point of the River Rea. It is first mentioned in 1276. Today Deritend is usually considered to be part of Digbeth. History Deritend was a crossing point of the River ...
, claims to be one of the oldest extant secular buildings in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
, England. It is
Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
, and claims to date back to c. 1368, retaining its "black and white" timber frame, although almost all of the present building dates from the early 16th century.


History

It is believed the building was constructed between 1450 and 1500 with some evidence dating to 1492 (the same year the
Saracen's Head The Saracen's Head is the name formerly given to one of a group of late medieval buildings in Kings Norton, Birmingham. The buildings, together with the nearby Old Grammar School, won the BBC '' Restoration'' series in 2004. Following the res ...
in nearby
Kings Norton Kings Norton, alternatively King's Norton, is an area of Birmingham, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Worcestershire, it was also a Birmingham City Council war ...
was completed). John Leland noted the building, upon entering Birmingham, in 1538 as a "mansion house of tymber". It is thought to have been originally built as the Guildhall and School of St John, Deritend. This Guild owned a number of other buildings throughout Warwickshire, including the Guildhall in Henley in Arden. The building was purchased in 1589, by "John Dyckson, alias Bayleys", who, in the 1580s, had been buying a number of properties and lands in "the street called Deritend" and in Bordesley. Described as a
tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, E ...
and garden, running alongside Heath Mill Lane, the building remained in the Dixon alias Baylis (later Dixon) family for the next hundred years. In the original deed, John Dyckson is described as a "Caryer", which in the West Midlands at this time, when roads were nothing more than hollow-ways and
bridle path A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now serve a wider ...
s, implied that he owned several trains of
packhorse A packhorse, pack horse, or sumpter refers to a horse, mule, donkey, or pony used to carry goods on its back, usually in sidebags or panniers. Typically packhorses are used to cross difficult terrain, where the absence of roads prevents the use of ...
s. These would have needed stabling, and Dixon would have needed warehouse space to store goods awaiting dispatch, and arrived goods awaiting collection. Such facilities would be useful to other travellers, and it may well be that the use of the house as an
Inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accomm ...
, dates from this time. Indeed, since England was in the grip of a patriotic pother over the failed Armada the previous year, it would have been opportune to adopt the name: 'the Crown'. However, the earliest ''documentary evidence'' of the building's use as an
Inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accomm ...
is from 1626; and it being "called by the sign of the Crowne", from 1666.In a marriage settlement dated 21 Dec 1666. (Birmingham Archives and Heritage, MS 3881/48). Heated skirmishes were fought around the building when
Prince Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 ( O.S.) 7 December 1619 (N.S.)– 29 November 1682 (O.S.) December 1682 (N.S) was an English-German army officer, admiral, scientist, and colonial governor. He first rose to ...
's forces raided Birmingham during the
English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...
. The building was converted into two houses in 1684 and then converted into three houses in 1693. It remained three houses until the 19th century. In 1851, Joshua Toulmin Smith saved the Old Crown from demolition when the Corporation proposed demolishing the building in order to "improve the street". Again, in 1856 and 1862, the Corporation proposed to demolish the building; Smith saved the building each time. In 1991, a local pub company owned by the Brennan family bought the Old Crown. In the summer of 1994, Pat Brennan and his youngest son, Peter, were doing repairs and clearing out the old sheds to the rear of the property when they found the old well, which had been closed off for more than 100 years. Now restored, it is situated at the rear entrance of the pub. At the end of May 1998, under the guidance of Pat and Ellen Brennan and their sons Patrick, Gary and Peter, after the family's £2 million investment into Birmingham's most famous hostelry, The Old Crown was restored to its former glory and reopened.


Construction

The building is wide and deep on the ground floor. On the first floor, which overhangs the front, it is deep. When built, the original building had a central hall with a length of and a width of . Below this were a number of arched cellars. On the upper floor were just four rooms. The building had a courtyard to its rear which contained a
well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...
. It was deep and surrounded by large stones. The well was excavated and deepened to produce a total depth of . The new section of the well was lined with square bricks. At the top, it was at its narrowest diameter and at its widest diameter. It widened to around at the bottom. The well was cleaned in 1863 and Smith added an iron gate to the top of it to preserve it whilst keeping it accessible.


See also

*
List of oldest companies The oldest companies in the world are the brands and companies which remain operating (either in whole or in part) since inception, excluding associations and List of oldest universities in continuous operation, educational, government, or relig ...


References


Sources

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External links


The Old Crown's web siteoldcrown Birmingham City Council page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Old Crown Grade II* listed pubs in Birmingham