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Summary:
This property was one of the many small inns along Charnham Street during the Victorian period. It probably opened as a beer retailer c.1830.
It was known as The Stag's Head (or Stag).
Photo Gallery:
Ratnam's Costcutter, Jun 2010
Charnham Street c1910
Charnham Street c1910
Charnham Street Feb 1980
Charnham Street, c1899 showing The Stag Inn and entrance to HJ Bell's Coach Works (Sent by Martin Honor, Feb 2021) [WS Parry]
Charnham Street, c1899 showing lady (?Mrs Harriet Mundy) at 34 Charnham Street, and The Stag Inn (Sent by Martin Honor, Feb 2021) [WS Parry]
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Tom Bell in his garage, Feb 1989 (John Allen).
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Office at Tom Bell's garage, Feb 1989 (John Allen).
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Tom Bell's garage, Feb 1989 (John Allen).
- Charnham Street, c.1899 showing The Stag Inn and entrance to HJ Bell's Coach Works (Sent by Martin Honor, February 2021) [WS Parry].
- Charnham Street, c.1899 showing lady (?Mrs Harriet Mundy) at 34 Charnham Street, and The Stag Inn (Sent by Martin Honor, February 2021) [WS Parry].
- Charnham Street c.1910.
- Ratnam's Costcutter, June 2010.
- Charnham Street c.1910.
- Charnham Street c.1910.
- Tom Bell in his garage, February 1989 (John Allen).
- Office at Tom Bell's garage, February 1989 (John Allen).
- Tom Bell's garage, February 1989 (John Allen).
- Charnham Street, February 1980.
Timeline:
Stag Inn (<1830-c1882):
1830 Pigot Directory: Robert Salt was innkeeper.
1836 Old Moore's Almanac: Stag's Head listed.
1841 Census: (to be confirmed): John Talbott (36), carpenter, wife Jane (46), 1 daughter, 2 lodgers, 1 servant.
1844 Pigot Directory: William Winter - tavern and public house.
1844 Snare Directory: William Winter - innkeeper
1847 Kelly Directory: Mrs Elizabeth Winter
1847 Snare Directory: Elizabeth Winter - innkeeper
1850 Slater: John Fowler - tavern and public house
1851 Census #76: Phillip Fowler (38), innkeeper, 1 daughter, 1 servant, 2 lodgers.
1854 Billing: Henry Isles - victualler
1861 Census: John Phillips (30), publican Stag's Head, wife Ann (29), 1 son, 1 daughter, 1 lodger.
1863 Dutton & Allen: John Phillips - publican and carpenter
1864 Billing: Henry Isles - victualler
1869 Post Office Directory: John Phillips, Stag's Head, Charnham Street.
1869 Kelly: John Phillips
1871 Census: #73: "Stagg Inn": John Phillips (42), inn keeper, wife Ann (39), 1 son, 1 daughter, 2 nieces, 4 lodgers.
1877 Kelly: John Phillips
1881 Census: #71: "Stagg Inn": John Phillips (52), inn keeper, wife Ann (49), 1 daughter, 1 brother-in-law, 1 sister-in-law.
1882-1890: Approximate date when Stag Inn closed.
Commercial/residential:
1891 Census:#69: Henry Cooper (32), butcher, wife Eliza (30), 1 son, 1 daughter, 1 lodger.
1901 Census: George Huxtable (43), butcher, wife Florence, 4 sons, 4 daughters.
1903 Kelly's Dir: John Waller Horne, 'carman and jobmaster', with horses and traps to let or hire. (In 1895 he had been at the Plough Inn in the High Street, where he hired 'waggonettes and traps'.)
1906 Cosburn's Dir: J W Horne, Charnham Street.
1911 Census: #139: John Waller Horner (49), haulier, wife Rhoda (48), 1 son, 1 servant, 7 rooms.
1911 Kelly's Dir: John Waller Horne.
1916 Cosburn's Dir: J W Horne, Charnham Street.
H J Bell, coach builder and bicycle shop:
It seems that at the rear of the premises was H J Bell and Co, coach builders.
c1899 A photograph by W S Parry (see Photo Gallery) shows an archway to the east of The Stag Inn on which is painted "BELL"
An advert for H J Bell, Bicycles is in the Marlborough Times, 11 June 1898.
1920 Kelly's Dir: H J Bell and Co, coach builders, Charnham Street.
?Stares Fish & Chips, c1926-c1935?:
Steven Stares contacted the Virtual Museum by email (July 2019) whilst researching his family history: "My great-grandparents, Edward (Ted) George Stares and Emma Stares, both lived in Hungerford but originated from Hampshire.It is unclear why they moved to Hungerford.
I believe Ted was an antiques dealer and he died (of pneumonia) in 1926. Emma remarried a William Gunter about 7 years later but died (of a heart attack) in 1935. Their grave is in St Saviour's cemetery (Row 39, No 11) although I see they are not listed on your page of headstones. I have visited their grave and it is inscribed with Ted and Emma (Gunter). I also noticed a small cross there where their daughter Kitty has been laid to rest but only ashes.
The family business of butchers was in Romsey and it was passed down through the generations and closed only about 4 years ago (c2015). I never understood why Ted left the butchers. Emma was found purely as a stroke of luck because the only Emma Stares I could find around that time died in Hammersmith which just didn’t make sense. However, I met a lovely lady in Hungerford called Phyllis Dennis who actually knew them. She explained that Emma used to go and see her sister in Hammersmith at weekends and one weekend she had a heart attack and died there. I would never have known this without meeting Mrs Dennis.
I knew that a Hungerford lady named Kathleen Prout was very important to my family and I was gobsmacked to find that Kathleen Prout was Mrs Dennis's mother! Mrs Dennis claimed that her mother used to help Emma in the Fish & Chip shop that she owned. We never knew that she owned a Fish & Chip shop.
Emma Gunter’s will states that the general store is to be sold and the proceeds to go to her children. When we were driving around with Mrs Dennis she pointed out a shop to us which was a convenience store at 31 Charnham Street.
I’m not quite sure what happened to the family but my Granddad Sydney Stares left Hungerford and settled in Uxbridge."
1939 Blacket's Dir: W J Butters
1940 Blacket's Dir: W J Butters (also recorded as W J Butters "Newsagent" at 27 Charnham Street).
Ruth Drury (nee Parry-Jones), who lived at #29 Charnham Street, added (Jul 2019): "at some time during 1955 - 67 the store was run by the Mitchell Family."
Bell and Wills' Garage:
In the later 1950s Tommy Bell and Charlie Wills (who had previously worked at the Kennet Motor Works) set up a workshop at the rear of the premises (probably in the old Bell's coach builder and bicycle workshop) where they repaired and services motor vehicles.
For more, see "A Motoring History of the Kennet Valley" by Roger Day and Tim Green, page 96-98.
On 28th April 1966 a lorry belonging to Guest Carriers crashed into 30 Charnham Street and blocked the entrance to Bells and Wills' worshop for four hours until it could be moved.
The main premises:
1970s-80s: Unwin & Davies newsagent (Fowler)
2008: Costcutters convenience store ("Ratnamms").
2019: August: New owner is J & P Store Ltd.
See also:
- Advert for H J Bell, Bicycles, Marlborough Times, 11 June 1898.
The Canal Wharf, 2011