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Wortham Manor House
Wortham Manor House
also traded as Dolphin
North West, 52.35203,1.05622
closed October 2020
Closed Oct 2020
opened before 1830
Bury Rd (A143), IP22 1PX
grid reference TM 082 770
The pub is shown on this old OS map from about 1903 (interactive map)
Re-opened and renamed as The Manor House. Thai menu available for eat in or take away. Also English menu - steaks, burgers etc.
The pub stands the original Bury-Diss road (now bypassed), opposite the large village green. It still has a nice old Lacon's plaque in the wall.
Gallery
Historical interest
Owner/operator: free
[Dolphin]
Fine pub on the edge of the village green. Restaurant at the rear, with the side areas to the front reserved for games or a chat. Retains a Lacons plaque.
Beers: Adnams Bitter, Extra; SCo John Smith’s Bitter; guest beer (independents)CAMRA's 1997 Suffolk Real Ale Guide
At one time, the boundary between Wortham and Burgate ran through the Dolphin; in The Pattern Under the Plough (Faber, 1966), George Ewart Evans relates a court case in 1830 where the parishes of Wortham and Burgate disputed responsibility for supporting a pauper, Thomas Woods. Such were the minutiae argued over that the case was decided on the basis of how much of his head was in which parish while he slept in his bed, which was bisected by the boundary.
Also reported in Long Green.…
Landlords
Footnote
A dolphin is seen as a friendly animal that would help ancient mariners by twining itself round the anchor cable in a storm to prevent the anchor dragging. It also features in many coats of arms including the Fishmongers Company and the Company of Watermen. In France from the 14th cent. the eldest son of the king was known as "le dauphin".
(Most pub, location & historic details collated by Nigel, Tony or Keith - original sources are credited)
(some old PO directory information courtesy of londonpublichouse.com)
(** historic newspaper information from Stuart Ansell)
(*** historic newspaper information from Bob Mitchell)
Old OS map reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland.