The New Inn, Somercotes
by SLHS on
Saturday 19 March 2016
The New Inn was situated on Birchwood Lane. It is not known exactly when this inn was built but it was known to be fully trading by 1896.
On 4 January 1896, the Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald reports:
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ACCIDENT AT BIRCHWOOD
While assisting on Friday afternoon last to remove some beer barrels in the cellar belonging to the New Inn at Birchwood, Samuel Ward, a married man, living next door to the public house which is kept by his father sustained a broken thigh in consequence of one of the barrels rolling on his leg…
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His father was William Ward, who was still the proprietor of the New Inn when the census return of 1911 was taken.
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By 1925, the landlord was one William Frost, listed in Kelly’s Directory that year. He was landlord of the New Inn for some nine years. At the same time as being the landlord, William worked full time as a locomotive driver at Riddings Ironworks for James Oakes & Co. This was mentioned in a newspaper report in 1935, when William celebrated 35 years of marriage.
In later years, the New Inn was owned by the Home Brewery. As with many public houses, trade in the late 1990s and early 2000s suffered and the New Inn finally closed. It was demolished in 2010/2011 and the site re-developed. A row of houses now stands in its place.
Some landlords who have been recorded in Trade Directories and other documents are:
- 1911 William Ward
- 1925 William Frost
- 1932 Mr. Broom
- 1941 Herbert Fryer.