Remembered - Maldon's White Hart pub shut over 50 years ago

Albert had been associated with the pub for 37 years (since he was five) when his father, George, took over the licence, back in 1910.

Albert and wife Gladys were retiring and the owners, Ind Coope, were putting the building up for sale.

It was a place that had a long and colourful history, serving successive generations of the community, from as early as the 16th Century. Contemporary evidence tells us that it was an “inn of old and ancient time”.

Formerly named Brinchley’s, it became the White Hart in 1591.

Court records for that year reveal that an Edmund Hunt had been arrested at the White Hart for revealing “a parchment with magical drawings on it” to fellow drinkers and was consequently accused of “conjuration”.

Just a few months later, John Roberts of Little Baddow sold the inn to a wealthy Maldon glover, Thomas Wells. They brewed on site in those days and were still doing so in 1608.

A Thomas Wells was still there in 1624, but probably a son of the same name. The earliest licensee that we know was Henry Beckwith, who was running it in the 1690s and he was succeeded by Thomas Elsome in 1696, who continued until 1702.

• Albert and Gladys Sewell call last orders in 1971 (Photo: Maldon and Burnham Standard)

It was in the 18th Century that a major re-build took place, as evidenced by the timber framing and by the elegant fireplace set in panelling in the south-west ground-floor room of the front block.

Another wealthy merchant, William Coe, purchased the building in 1701 for £70 and re-construction must have taken place during his ownership.

We know the Merritts were the landlords and that, widowed Abigail Merritt took over the licence from her late husband in 1724.

By 1738 she had been succeeded by John Edwick. It was during his time that the White Hart was used as a hotel for those attending horse races on nearby Potman Marsh, as well as serving as a venue for coroners’ inquests.

William Jepson had taken over as innkeeper in 1754 and he was succeeded by his widow, Sarah, in 1764.

Sarah Jepson continued at the White Hart until 1782. A year earlier, ownership transferred through an inheritance to John Payne.

In 1784, the then landlord, George Talladay, gave notice of a bull-baiting competition in the pub yard – a crude, horrific blood sport, pitting dogs against a bull.

Talladay’s tenure came to an end in 1786 and by 1792 it was Henry Wells’ turn.

Throughout the 1790s the inn was used as a meeting place for the local friendly society and for the billeting of soldiers stationed in town as a result of the Napoleonic threat. (In 1800, members of the West Essex Yeomanry enjoyed “an elegant dinner and good wines” there).

We now arrive at the 19th Century and evidence of further alterations – the ground floor central door case, long front and wall clad in those distinctive glazed tiles.

Henry Whitmore was landlord from 1810 to 1833, and Richard Richbell from 1835 to 1845.

John Strutt had purchased the building in 1815, but by 1850 it was owned by the Colchester brewer, Osborne.

They put John Archer in the White Hart and he appears in the 1851 census, along with wife Elizabeth, their five children and two servants.

John Archer left in 1855 and the pub was then advertised for sale, described as a “brick and timber sash-fronted house called White Hart Inn situated between the bridge and the railway station”.

The census of 1861 shows a new innkeeper – George Seex, who doubled as a firewood dealer.

• The former White Hart today

For many years later, the rear of the pub was referred to as “Seex’s yard”.

When George died in 1871, his widow Emma took over and remained until her death in 1896.

The Colchester Brewing Company bought out Osborne in 1887.

James W Merryweather had a brief stint behind the bar in 1898, but with the coming of the 20th Century, a rear extension was added and Frank John Poole Norton became landlord in 1901.

He advertised “good accommodation for cyclists” and members of the Maldon Golf club met there after playing on the nearby Beeleigh course.

Then we have Henry Parsonage in 1908 and, as we know, George Sewell and his family arrived in 1910.

Annie Sewell took over after George’s death in 1925, it became an Ind Coope house in 1927 and Albert and Gladys Sewell took over in 1934.

As the newspapers reported at the time, closure meant that the Fullbridge area had lost all of its six pubs – the White Lion (in 1910), followed by four others “in the last 12 years” – the Railway Bell, Railway Tavern, Welcome Sailor and the Ship.

The Welcome Sailor (or should I say, the Sunny Sailor) has since re-opened, but the White Hart continues to be the private property it became when Albert rang its bell for the very last time in 1971.