Brimpton History: Horse and Jockey Pub
While the recent closure of the Three Horseshoes pub might lead you to believe it was the only pub in Brimpton, there have actually been a number over the years. We’ve already covered the Pineapple in Brimpton Common, but over on Hyde End Lane they also used to have their own public house, in the shape of the Horse and Jockey.
As the pub has now been converted to a residential home, it’s hard to find out much about its history – though we do know that all the way back in 1851 there were landlords living and working there. According to the ‘Brimpton Story’, back in the 1880s the pub also sold groceries.
Slightly ominously, it would appear that at the end of the 1800s the pub hosted at least one police inquest, as this extract from the Reading Mercury (20th July 1850) suggests:
An inquest was held on Thursday last, at the Horse and Jockey, Brimpton, before J. Alexander, esq. coroner, on view of the body of Albert Pocock, a boy in Kendrick’s Newbury Charity School, who met with his death in most melancholy manner, on Wednesday.
He had a half-holiday, and was accompanying one of Mr. Lay’s men, named Copas, on his return from Ashford-Hill, where he had been delivering coals with a cart. On reaching Hyde-End, Brimpton, Copas looked round and saw that the boy, who had been walking by the side of the cart, had just fallen under the wheel; the man had not time to pull up before the wheel had passed over and completely crushed the poor boy’s head, who almost immediately expired.
The jury, after hearing the evidence, which clearly showed that no legal blame could be attached to any one, returned a verdict of Accidental death.”
Reading Mercury 20 July 1850
Sadly, the pub closed in the 1950s, which is when it was converted to a residential property.
One thought on “Brimpton History: Horse and Jockey Pub”
Interesting! Our family bought and moved into this property in 1961.
I think the couple we bought it off were called Chapman although I may be wrong.
The house had been converted back into purely a home but rather badly. It was called ‘Peacehaven’ but as our family name was Cox, my father changed it to ‘The Pippins’!
The extension to the rear was an old bakery with a huge brick oven which my father used as a workshop setting up his business making Cox sealant guns. When we finally renovated the whole place this area was converted into a kitchen with a mezzanine area which we called the Minstrals gallery!
There were two small brickbuilt victorian cottages where the double garage now stands.
Between the two cottages and the house there was a very strange brick arch. The story has it that the licensed premises – pub, was originally in one of the two cottages and to transfer the licence over to the house it was necessary to build this brick arch, thus making it an adjoing property!!!
We knocked the cottages down (no doubt worth a fortune today) and built the double garage.
Only one cottage was occupied at a rent of seven shilling and six pence – per month or per week I can’t remember. Sanitation was a privy in the garden!
The Pippins also came with two similar cottages on the island site opposite.
We also eventually knocked these two houses down and built the house that stands there today.
My parents finally sold the property in the mid 70’s.