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Clare Bell
listed building grade II
Local licensing authority for Clare is West Suffolk
CAMRA West Suffolk & Borders branch.
last updated Jun 5th, 2020.
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Clare Bell
formerly Green Dragon, Saracen's Head
Currently closed - may reopen?
12 & 13 Market Hill, CO10 8NN
grid reference TL 770 453
opened 16th century
owner/operator: Greene King
A 16th century timber framed family & commercial hotel on old market square. Quiet, comfortable lounge, busy public bar with a conservatory to rear. Full hotel service available. Good food venue and occasional live music.
The pub is shown on this old OS map from about 1902 (interactive map)
Facilities
Accommodation available
Beer garden or other outside drinking area
Bus stop nearby (see transport links for details)
Evening meals
Family friendly
Lunchtime meals (not just snacks)
Parking
Quiet pub - no electronic games, piped music or jukebox
Restaurant or separate dining area
Separate bar
Traditional pub games available
Gallery
Other nearby Suffolk pubs
Swan 0.08 mile
Globe 0.15 mile
Lion 2.1 miles
Five Bells 2.2 miles
George 2.3 miles
Rose & Crown 2.9 milesHistorical interest
Historically listed as a family & commercial hotel & posting house.
Records show town officials having dinner there in 1611 at a cost of eleven shillings. It was greatly expanded to a post house in the 1750s when the beautiful interior carved beams including ornately carved ceilings, some with folded leaf ornamentation, were added. These are similar to the beams in the Priory and The Grove (30 Callis Street).
It was extensively altered to become the Green Dragon Inn around 1580. The Green Dragon was a wholesale trading house with a brewhouse and bar, and at the beginning of the 19th century it specialised in chandlery - oil, ropes and candles which were made on the premises. …
Landlords
Footnote
The green dragon may be a reference to the Earl of Pembroke and appears on their coat of arms. William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk was an important medieval English soldier and commander in the Hundred Years' War and later Lord Chamberlain of England. He was created Earl of Pembroke in 1447 and Duke of Suffolk in 1448.
(Most pub, location & historic details collated by Nigel, Tony or Keith - original sources are credited)
(historical detail found in Clare Book II streets)
(** historic newspaper information from Bob Mitchell)
Old OS map reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland.
