Welcome to the Red Lion Shatterford - Official Website!

History

On the 13th May in 1834, William Attwood brought 1/4 acre of land in the parish of Arley from Mrs Ann Gunn, a widow from Nordley.
The field, bounded by the new Bridgnorth to Kidderminster turnpike road which was opened seven years earlier in 1827, was called Hooks Plock and cost William Attwood £30.

He was allowed to build one dwelling house only on the land, and this he did in 1835.
The land was protected by covenant and the penalty for building another house on the land was £20.

However, in the year of 1835 William Attwood took advantage of the Duke of Wellington's Beerhouse Act, paid two guineas to the authorities and opened the Red Lion beerhouse. The name, Red Lion, was the most popular of all beerhouse titles and was named after John Gaunt.

The outhouse was converted into a simple brewery which was operated by a travelling brewer.
The beer would no doubt have been mild, dark and strong.
The strength was brewed into the beer to resist infection.
Records show that the average specific gravity in Bridgnorth and Kidderminster was 1060, the second strongest in England.

Local mole catcher John Head (born 1815) was the first tenant paying a yearly rent of £10.
John Head was the landlord for 53 years and after him his son ran the Red Lion for a further 18 years, after which it was managed by the Haycox family who ran the pub for a total of 72 years.
Remarkably these two families ran the Red Lion for a total of 143 years.

However, back in 1838, William Attwood sold the Red Lion to William Steward, the owner of Lower Farm and it remained in his possession for some 40 years before he accepted an offer of £300 from Thomas Lester an established wine and spirit merchant from Dudley.

Lester sold the Red Lion after 13 years to Buckley's Kidderminster Brewery, Blackwell Street, Kidderminster, in 1891.
Buckley's were absorbed into the Worcestershire Brewing and Malting Company formed in 1896.
They were in turn acquired by Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries in 1913.

The Red Lion remained in the possession of Banks until 1982

In 1985 Richard and Pamela Tweedie brought the Red Lion with its rich history spanning 155 years and are determined to run the pub as it was originally intended, as a pleasant and hospitable social centre for the community.

LICENSEES BEERHOUSE/HOMEBREW

1835 - William Attwood
1838 - John Head (Senior)
1891 - John Head (Junior)
1901 - Samuel Haycox
1936 - Jane Haycox
1938 - James Edward Haycox
1946 - Edward Richard Haycox
1967 - Ethel May W.Haycox
1981 - Charles Andrew Rhodes
1982 - Jonathon Mark H.Booton
01.07.1985 - Richard Steven Tweedie

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