Pubs and beerhouses
The Hit or Miss pub in Penn Street, 1922. Stuart King Collection
Chilterns pubs and beerhouses played an important part in the history of chairmaking in the Chilterns.
They not only provided refreshment and social life for the bodgers and other woodland workers after a long day’s work, but they were directly involved in business and manufacture too. The Hampden Arms in Great Hampden hosted auctions where the turners would bid for the timber they needed to make into chair parts. Some publicans ran chairmaking businesses, and some even set up chairmaking workshops adjacent to their pub.
 |
Mavis Warner’s blog traces 300 years of the history of the Raven beerhouse at Beacon’s Bottom, run by chairmaker/publican Richard Northcott in the middle of the 19th century. |
 |
Meriel Johansen writes about the Hit or Miss Pub in Penn Street where the chairmaking business Dancer and Hearne expanded into one of the largest chair factories in the area. |
 |
The Plough at Winchmore Hill was another chairmaking pub. It was run by three generations of the Pursey family. Jane Barker has traced the story of their successful business. |
Unfortunately the pub is currently closed, but you can stop for a drink the nearby Potters Arms followed by a self-guided walk around the chairmaking village of Winchmore Hill.
If you’d like to experience these pubs for yourself, take your friends or family on a Bodgers’ Pub Tour of the Chilterns. The guide tells you about the history of all the pubs on the route and their connection to chairmaking. Many of the pubs serve excellent food, so book a table and have a fun day out.
Chalk, Cherries and Chairs
Chilterns Heritage and Archaeology Partnership
Discover the timeline of the Chilterns
Volunteering hub
