The Globe Inn was on Main Road (B1183 'Seven
Mile Straight'), New Bolingbroke, at the end of a spur of the Medlam Drain
and just north of the junction with Occupation Lane.
The Globe Inn was one of the first buildings to be erected at New
Bolingbroke after the local Fen allotments were acquired by land agent John
Parkinson of Asgarby-by-Spilsby and others in the early 1800s, after the
Lincolnshire Fens had been drained. He intended his allotment to develop
into a new market town named after the much older nearby village of
Bolingbroke (later renamed Old Bolingbroke). However, in the event New
Bolingbroke never developed beyond a village.
1824 The first houses were built at New Bolingbroke in 1824. Two estates
consisting of 146 newly-built brick houses were all advertised as being for
sale or to let. Work on building the Globe Inn on Main Road, New Bolingbroke
began at the same time.
1825 & 1826 The "newly-erected" Globe Inn was advertised as being to let
during 1825 and 1826. It was built as a combined farm and inn and had a
granary, stables and other buildings, a "spacious" coal yard, two offices
and 9 acres of land attached to it. At this time many pub landlords in rural
Lincolnshire also worked as farmers. A single-storey butcher's shop was
added on the north side of the inn.
There was also a brewery behind the inn – which became known as the New
Bolingbroke Brewery – and a malthouse immediately to the north. The first
maltster listed at New Bolingbroke was Peter Blackbourn, in 1826, so he may
have been the malthouse's first occupant.
In 1833 the brewery was taken over by a Mr T Green. However, by around 1841
the pub was operated by Edward Harding Soulby, trading as E H Soulby & Co
(Brewers) who appear to have acquired both it, the adjacent brewery and the
malthouse. The brewery also owned many of the horse-drawn barges which were
moored on the nearby Medlam Drain. On market days New Bolingbroke villagers
would often travel on these barges to Boston and back. Edward Soulby's
younger brother John Cooke Soulby was later put in charge of the New
Bolingbroke brewery. Unfortunately he suffered from depression and came to
suspect that his wife was having an affair, and in 1854 committed suicide.
Despite this, the family kept the brewery going until 1870, when they sold
it to Horace Everitt. He had previously
worked as an assistant to Edward Harding Soulby and by the 1880s had also
taken over the malthouse. According to the Brewery History Society, the
brewery next to the Globe closed after Mr Everitt died in 1897. The brewery
was then repurposed.
In March 1952 the inn was put up for sale by auction by Soames & Co, brewers
of Spalding, who had taken over as owners from Soulby & Co. It was
sold in three lots at the Assembly Rooms, Boston on 12th March 1952.
* The inn and outbuildings comprised an entrance hall, bar, large clubroom,
lounge, kitchen scullery, cellar, living room, 2 dairies, 5 double and 2
single bedrooms and a range of outbuildings, plus 3 arable and 3 pasture
fields totalling 1.4 acres. It was bought by John Harness Rundle of New
Bolingbroke. He planned to convert the inn into two houses.
* The other fields attached to the inn were sold to two different buyers.
* After 128 years the Globe Inn therefore ceased to exist as a pub and was
split up.
* Soames & Co applied to magistrates for permission to use its Club Room as
a temporary office, as this had a separate entrance from the rest of the
inn. The application was granted.
The inn's last licensee (from around 1945 to 1952) was Charles Wilkinson, a
publican and smallholder from nearby Mareham-le-Fen. After the Globe Inn
closed he held an auction at the inn to sell his remaining farm animals,
farm equipment and some of his furniture. He then retired to Mareham-le-Fen.
The Globe Inn closed in 1952. Afterwards, John Harness Rundle established
the Globe Foundry in the former brewery buildings.
The number of licences to serve alcohol that were granted to premises in
each area was always strictly limited by magistrates. In 1952 the licence of
the Globe Inn was temporarily transferred from Charles Wilkinson to Willows
Francis Mager, an agent acting for Soames & Co. Presumably this was to
prevent other breweries claiming the licence. However, in 1953 Frederick
Richard Henry Harrison, the landlord of the Royal Oak at nearby Carrington
applied to Spilsby magistrates for the temporary licence handed to Mr Mager
to be transferred from the Globe Inn to his own pub. As the Globe Inn was no
longer operating as a public house the magistrates agreed and so after 129
years the inn ceased to be a licensed premise.
The inn later became a private residence, Globe House, which John Harness
Rundle and his family moved into.
Groups that used the inn.
As well as being a drinking-house, the Globe Inn was used regularly by a
number of local groups:
* The New Bolingbroke court (=lodge) of the Ancient Order of Foresters (from
1840-1895).
* The local branch of the Olive Tree Friendly Society held their annual
share-outs and dinners there (1840-1910).
* The New Bolingbroke Labourers' Society (which eventually became the New
Bolingbroke, Carrington and District
Labourers' Improvement Society) held ploughing, hedging, stacking,
shepherding, thatching and sheep-shearing
competitions in fields close to the inn each year, followed by a dinner in
the inn itself (1866-1876).
* New Bolingbroke & District Conservative Association held its annual
meetings there (1886-1914).
* New Bolingbroke Football Club used it as their HQ and held their general
meetings there (1950s).
* More mundanely, the Globe was also used each year by the local Revision
Courts for New Bolingbroke and around 20 neighbouring parishes – to revise
the lists of persons eligible to vote in elections (1834-1919).
The Club Room at the Globe Inn was used for dances, with music provided by
bands such as the Sibsey Brass Band.
In 1887 the charge for three hours' dancing was 6d per person.
As with other pubs in the 1800s and 1900s, the Globe Inn was also frequently
used as a venue for auctions. Timber, food, household items, farm animals,
local properties and many other items were often auctioned there from 1825
(soon after it opened) until the mid-1900s.
Coroners' inquests were also occasionally held there. Most towns in
Lincolnshire didn’t get purpose-built coroners' courthouses until the early
1900s, so venues such as public houses were used instead.
Some of the licencees of the Globe Inn
1824-1827 or later: One of the first licensees was Edward Carritt of
Stickney, a draper, grocer, auctioneer and publican.
1840-1855 Licensee: George Glossop Wedd, a butcher and farmer. He also owned
the single-storey butcher's shop which was attached to the north side of the
inn.
* In 1865 his wife Herodias Wedd left him. He placed a notice in local
newspapers stating that, as she had left him, he was no longer responsible
for any debts she might incur.
* He appears to have gone bankrupt by 1867, handing his entire estate over
to Edward Harding Soulby of Soulby's Brewery and a grocer from nearby
Miningsby.
1841 By 1841 the Globe Inn was owned by Edward Harding Soulby of E H Soulby
& Co (Brewers). This company would later become Soulby & Co and eventually,
Soulby, Sons & Winch Ltd of Alford, Lincs.
1855-1868 Licensee: Robert Stones.
1868-ca 1870 Licensee: Joseph Richard Ufton of Sibsey. Mr Ufton later took
over the Old White Hart Inn at Boston.
1871-1876 or later Licensee: Joseph Skinner and his wife.
1881-1888 or later Licensee: John Hare.
1891-1927 Licensees: John Henry Dickinson, publican and farmer, and his wife
Mary Helena Dickinson.
* John was from Harby in Leicestershire; Mary was originally from
Manchester. They took over the Globe Inn soon after marrying and were tenant
landlords.
* In 1903 John Dickinson was fined £2 by Spilsby magistrates for selling
adulterated gin at the inn.
1927 Owner: Hugh Mountney Lely of Morpeth Mansions, London SW1.
* In Apr 1927 he issued a notice to quit to Mr Dickinson, claiming he owed
him £42 in unpaid rent. He won the case and the Dickinsons were subsequently
evicted by him.
1927-1928 or later Licensee: John Hall, a publican and farmer, took over
from the Dickinsons.
* In 1928 Hugh Mountney Lely, owner of the Globe Inn, sued Mr Hall at Boston
County Court, also for allegedly unpaid rent.
* Mr Hall argued that he had not paid the rent because it had been set too
high due to an incorrect valuation by the owner's agents.
* He also said that some of the rent claimed was owed by the previous tenant
John Henry Dickinson rather than by himself.
* It's unclear which party won the case or how long Mr Hall stayed on as
licensee.
1931 Spilsby Licensing Sessions granted James William Russell of Lutton
Marsh near Holbeach a protection order (temporary licence) to sell alcohol
at the Globe Inn until the next licence transfer date.
1931 The inn's licence was transferred from James William Russell to
publican and farmer Charles Everitt Clarke.
1938 Charles Everitt Clarke decided to retire from both farming and running
the Globe Inn and held a sale by auction on the premises of the remaining
farm animals and implements he owned.
1938-1942 Licensees: Edward Powley and his wife Ethel M Powley.
* It was their first venture into the licensed trade. Previously Mr Powley
had been a smallholder working for the Ministry of Agriculture at Sutton
Bridge, Lincs.
* The Inn now had a 'considerable amount of land' attached to it, including
seven fields.
* Mr Powley was keen to encourage darts at the inn and set about organising
competitions.
* His wife started up New Bolingbroke Ladies' Sick and Dividing Club (a
mutual aid/insurance society). The Club held its annual share-outs and
dinners for members at the inn. A similar fund for men was started up soon
afterwards. The two clubs lasted until at least 1949, by which time they had
308 members.
1942 The Powleys left the Globe Inn, at which point it was advertised
as being to let with 28 acres of land attached. By this stage the inn had
been acquired from Soulby & Co by Soames & Co (Brewers) of Spalding.
1945-1949 Frank Wilkinson, a part-time dog breeder, was living at the Globe
Inn and may also have been its licensee.
1949 Licensee: Eric Wilkinson.
1949-1952 Licensee: Charles Wilkinson, a publican and smallholder from
Mareham-le-Fen.
* Mr Wilkinson was the last proper licensee of the Globe Inn. |
