A Virtual Stroll Around the Walls of Chester
The Vanished Pubs of Chester Gallery
Its landlord in 1749 had been Thomas Hart, in 1780 Simeon Leet, in 1782 Mrs Leet, in 1818-20 Benjamin Powell, in 1828 Benjamin Sowell, in 1850 John Heppel, in 1880 Daniel Miller, in 1902 Henry Ellison Ostle, in 1910-1914 William Henry Lucas.
Left: this interesting old photograph shows the Yacht Inn at the end of the street and, nearest to us, The Axe Tavern. This advertisement for the old Yacht appeared in Adams’s Weekly Courant, 7th March 1780: Simeon was soon to pass on, apparently, as The Yacht appears in Cowdroy's Directory two years later, in 1782 with its licencee being given as Mrs Leet. The Yacht is seen in this photograph of c.1900, which shows the view up the street towards Chester Castle. It is hard to believe that only forty ago, this vista remained almost unaltered. But then the Yacht, the venerable Church of St. Martin and every other bulding seen on the left hand side of the photograph was demolished for road widening and today this quiet scene seems difficult to imagine. As may be seen on the right, the inn and its surroundings seem not to have changed for sixty years. The old inn was
described
in
the
19th
century
as "without
exception
the
most
picturesque
and
curious
of
all
our
Chester
inns" and
a
century
before
that
was
considered "the
premier
hostelry
in
the
city
on
its
most
important
street".
Swift was a frequent visitor to Chester, passing through on his way to and from Ireland and his duties as Dean of Dublin Cathedral. He did not seem to greatly enjoy the experience, especially when his stay in the city was extended due to bad weather at the port- by his time the wharves in Chester itself had become unusable and he would have had to travel a few miles by coach to the satellite port of Parkgate along the Wirral coast. During one of these enforced delays, he invited a number of dignitaries from the Cathedral to join him for a meal at the Yacht, but none of them bothered to turn up. Infuriated and insulted, with his diamond ring he scratched into one of the windows:
On the right, we see the old Yacht in its final days, as viewed from the far side of Nicolas Street. Yhe scene remains apparently peaceful- a far cry from the orgy of speeding traffic that roars through here today. The building on the far right is still standing and until very recently housed a fine antiquarian bookshop. In 1965, the ancient Yacht, its windows and scratchings- together with every other building on the left-hand side of the photograph below- were bulldozed during the creation of the Inner Ring Road, and their foundations and cellars now lie beneath the left-hand carriageway of busy Nicolas Street.. |
Drawing from 'Chester As It Was' by J S Howson, Dean of Chester 1872
Packing up: final days at the Yacht, 1964
The following grim story was written by Elaine Pierce Jones of the excellent Chester History & Heritage. We're very grateful to her for sharing it with us here.. Tragedy at the Yacht Inn
From the beginning delicate Martha Miller suffered ill health, nervousness and attacks of melancholy, possibly exacerbated by post natal depression – she gave birth to a daughter Alice in 1876 and a second child Elizabeth Mary in 1878. She had also been coughing up blood, a sign of consumption. Right: ancient oak beams in the roof of the Yacht, photographed just before its destruction in 1965. Can you see the ghost? One Friday evening in June 1879 Martha went up to bed at the Inn at about 8pm, taking her two small children with her. A little before 11pm her 10 year old stepdaughter Emma heard piercing screams coming from the bedroom and ran to alert her father who was sitting in the clubroom with some customers. Daniel rushed upstairs, broke down the locked door and found that his wife had cut the children’s throats – and her own. He shouted for help and one of the customers went up to see the children covered in blood, soaking their nightclothes and the bedding and Martha sitting on the bed, fully dressed but bleeding from the neck. A table knife was lying on the floor.
Little Alice died from loss of blood on the Sunday and that same morning Martha again tried to kill herself by managing to release one of her hands from the straight jacket, loosening the tapes that tied it and fastening them to the bed head in an attempt to strangle herself. Baby Elizabeth was then taken to the Infirmary to recover and poor Martha was sent to the Lunatic Asylum.
In the event, the order was immaterial as in October Martha died in the Lunatic Asylum – three days after giving birth to a premature baby girl, christened Martha. This sickly, frail baby died a few weeks later and was buried with her mother and sister Alice in Overleigh Cemetery. This pregnancy explains Martha’s anguished comment in June – “we will all four go together” In 1881 Daniel gave up his licence. During his short stay in Chester he had lost his wife, two children, his home, his work and his savings. Where he lived after 1881, and for how long, we cannot say but he surely held no fond memories of our city and the heartbreaking times that he and his sad family endured here. |
An 18th century coaching advertisment
Do you have any more information about this old pub?
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