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Beccles Red Lion
Beccles Red Lion
North East, 52.45644,1.56469
closed 2nd March 1959
16 Blyburgate
grid reference TM 422 902
It's shown (though not named) on this OS town plan of 1884.
The Red Lion building has had considerable changes made to it in recent years, so it looks little like the original pub, though it is just about recognisable.
The pub closed in 1959 and the license was transferred to the Halesworth Oriental.
The image of the Red Lion (now a car spares shop I see) reminds me that around 1965 we (The building firm I worked for at the time) were called in by the new owners of the Lion who were opening up it up as a Shoe Repair shop (Warners). Warners were concerned that the floor of the shop was sagging rather severely. When we got down into what was the old pub cellar, we found the entire shop /pub floor above our heads was one huge bank of snow white growth from the dry rot that had taken hold. It was a marvellous sight to see.
David Wallace did some of the building work on the pub after it had closed: "We solved the problem by knocking down the old chimney stack that ran right up from the cellar, through the building to the ridge of the roof. It was a case of starting from the top on the ridge and dismantling the stack 'brick by brick', dropping each brick down the flue into the cellar. Thus Warners got more space in their building and at the same time the bricks filled the cellar and all that remained was to remove the rotten old pub floor and lay down a concrete floor on the rubble. Job done."
Gallery
Historical interest
The Beccles Brewery was sold with a house, gardens, building plots, a hotel [Kings Head] and 32 public houses previously owned by Frederick William Farr, at the Kings Head in Beccles on 28 Apr 1852. See Suffolk Archives Ref: 559/1 - This sale included the Red Lion, Blyburgate, Beccles [landlord Samuel Barkway]
Landlords
(Most pub, location & historic details collated by Nigel, Tony or Keith - original sources are credited)
(some old PO directory information courtesy of londonpublichouse.com)
