Northumberland Inns and Taverns: Alnwick (Clayport)

Name: The Tailors' Arms

Address: 62, Clayport Street, Alnwick

1864 Town Plan - Tailors Arms PH

The Tailors’ Arms, or Taylor’s Arms dated from the 1840s and was one of a dozen pubs on Clayport Street until magistrates decided not to renew its licence in 1908.

It wasn't listed on either the 1829 or 1834 directories of the town, but the first landlord, John Hall, whose primary occupation was a 'Whitesmith' (light metal worker) was resident at the property on the 1841 Census, although it was only on the 1851 census that first reference to the Tailors' Arms was recorded. John Hall was a local man born in Alnwick.

Listed landlords at the beer house were John Hall (1841-1871), Margaret Ternant (1871-91), Thomas Henry Kirk (1891-01), Daniel Waters (-1902), John (David) Geggie (1902-), Margaret Murphy (1905-07), William Cockburn (1907) and Frank Holt (1908).

1841 Census John Hall 'Whitesmith'

1851 Census John Hall 'Whitesmith' Tailor's Arms

1855 Whellan's Directory - John Hall

1861 Census John Hall 'Whitesmith'

By 1871 John and Sarah Hall had moved on to the Bird & Bush on Dispensary Street and a few years later, he passed away leaving Sarah to run the Inn.

1876 Probate John Hall

The Tailors' had, in the interim, been taken over by a Margaret Ternant, who came from Lesbury.

1871 Census Margaret Ternant

Alnwick Mercury Saturday, Sept. 12, 1874

1879 Kelly's Directory - Margaret Ternant

1881 Census - Margaret Ternant

1889 Poll Books Margaret Ternant

Morpeth Herald Saturday, Feb. 14, 1891

1891 Census Thomas Kirk 'Innkeeper & Plumber'

1894 Directory Thomas Kirk

1901 Census Thomas Kirk 'Publican'

The departure of Thomas Kirk just after the turn of the century proved to be was the start of the demise of the beer house, primarily through the dreadful conditions at the time and general disorder. A string of landlords followed over the next 7 years or so, no-one making a real go of it, and it's fair to say, the writing was on the wall for this public house by this time in the eyes of local magistrates.

Morpeth Herald Saturday, Nov. 22, 1902

Morpeth Herald Saturday, Dec. 13, 1902

Morpeth Herald Saturday, Feb. 6, 1904

Morpeth Herald Saturday, July 9, 1904

Morpeth Herald Saturday, Oct. 14, 1905

Morpeth Herald Saturday, Feb. 10, 1906

Morpeth Herald Saturday, Feb. 9, 1907

Morpeth Herald Saturday, Nov. 23, 1907

Morpeth Herald Saturday, Mar. 7, 1908

Morpeth Herald Saturday, May 30, 1908

In the late 19th century this part of town was an area of poor housing. It was identified as unhealthy in both Robert Rawlinson’s 1850 report on the Cholera outbreak, and the 1898 report by Dr. George Seaton Buchanan on the sanitary condition of Alnwick. Other areas were seen as an even bigger problem at the time of the Cholera outbreak, but in 1897 the Local Board’s “Death Rate Committee” estimated that infant mortality in this neighbourhood was 50%. By then, there were 225 people living in this area, nearly all at a density of more than three to a room. It was judged to be some of the worst housing in the town, and in 1898 it was chosen as a priority for slum clearance.

“A large proportion of the dwellings of the town, principally those occupied by the poorer classes, are to be found huddled on small areas at the back of the main throughfares.” … “Buildings have subsequently been packed on this strip of back yard” … “Going through into a court of this kind one finds a passage some four or six feet wide, extending the length of the property” … “Along one side of the passage is a high wall” … “along the other side is a row of buildings, most of them two story dwelling houses, others, stables, or cowshed.”

By 1908 there had been some housing improvements, but the quality was still below standard. Magistrates were trying to reduce the number of pubs in Alnwick, and they decided not to renew the licence for the Tailors' Arms. These are extracts from their report:

Supt. Bolton said that one could get into the back of this house without going through the passage way from the front of the house, and there was a lot of tenemented property at the back, occupied by poor tenants, who caused no end of trouble to the police….

Clayport was the worst part of Alnwick, and had the most public-houses in proportion to the population. Out of 213 persons convicted for drunkenness in Alnwick, last year, 70 were from the Clayport district; the population was small, the proportion of drunkenness being far greater than any other part, in comparison.

The home was very much frequented by women living in yards adjoining, who could get into this house unperceived better than they could get into others. Witness said he would not say the women he saw drinking there were of a low class. He did not think, all the same, that such women would go to other houses in the middle of the day where there were not the same facilities to pop in unobserved. Mr. Percy, witness denied that a great many women, to his knowledge, went down the backyard to drink in the house.

After some consideration in private the Bench said they had decided to refuse to renew this.

(Courtesy of the Alnwick Civic Society website)

Morpeth Herald Saturday, July 18, 1908

And so, on 18th July 1908 the Tailors' Arms had pulled its last pint and was closed for good. It was to be demolished in years to come along with all the adjoining properties west of Tower Lane up to the junction with Lisburn Terrace to make way for new housing.

Thomas Kirk, landlord in the 1890s continued to live on Clayport Street, focussing on his trade as a plumber and gasfitter.