User talk:Mattrusse

The Plume of Feathers formally The Fighting Cocks was one of the most well known Inns in Winchester up to its demolition in 1938. The Inn itself was adjacent to the West Gate in Winchester and underwent many changes during its time. However details for the inn are scarce and it is hard to recreate an exact time line for changes that did took place. Throughout this paper I have attempted to amalgamate what evidence I could find, some being from the Hampshire Records office others from books and photographs, and place together a brief history of the building. This paper will look through the physical changes of the building along with its different uses throughout history and its relation with the Westgate. The Plume of Feathers relation with the West Gate (except from being neighbours) is with the chamber above the Westgate used today as the Westgate museum. It was because of this chamber that the gate originally was probably preserved when all the other gates were destroyed due to the fact that the chamber was owned by the building on the other side of the gate. The West Gate itself went on to be used for many things, a prison being the main use, but these will be outlined later. The building that was to become known as The Plume of Feathers according to records from the Hampshire Record office was also known as the Porters Lodge. In a record relating to the lease dating from 1687 – 1856 the plots here referred to as A and B are described as thus,

A)	The porters' lodge belonging to the Westgate and a piece of ground where the city pound lately (1687) stood. By 1814 this property was described as 'formerly' the porter's lodge, now the Plume of Feathers.

B)	 Plot of ground outside Westgate adjoining to the city wall there, where Alexander Oram has lately (1658) built a tenement. By 1829 a 'new room' had been built here. The property was described as behind and adjoining to A.

This would suggest that A was the building of the Inn however in other documents the Porters lodge is referred to as the chamber above the west gate. Yet from 1755 all those who leased A also leased B and the new room built on plot B was adjoined by 1829 so presumably became part of the Inn at that point. Being that nothing was built on plot B until 1829 it would suggest that the Porters lodge was actually the Plume of Feathers itself. When the lodge became an Inn from the sources I found there was no specific date but the first person on the lease list source was that of Andrew Stone in 1687 in Town Court Rolls from the same time Andrew Stone was referred to as being “endorsed with note of appointment of Andrew Stone as keeper of the Westgate prison”. Insinuating that at this point in time the tenant of the porters lodge would be the person in charge of looking after the prison next door in the West Gate. A quick list of lease holders of the property are as follows:

1) Andrew Stone of Winchester, 20 Aug 1687 (Keeper of Westgate prison) (A only) Elizabeth inherited

2) Elizabeth Stone(Andrew Stones Wife) of Winchester, widow, 15 Dec 1701 (A only) Died 1704

3) Anne Stone of the Cathedral Close, Winchester, widow of Andrew Stone, goldsmith decd, son and executor of Elizabeth Stone decd, 6 Apr 1716 (A only) 4) Thomas Baynes of Winchester, Victualler, 8 Feb 1738-39 (A only) (Refers to lease to William Baynes of Winchester, Inn holder decd made 14 years before)

5) John Gauntlett of Winchester, Wine merchant, 12 May 1755 (A and B, from here on everyone holds A & B)

6) Carew Gauntlett of Winchester, wine merchant, son of Mary Gauntlett decd, 1 Oct 1770

7) Charles Heath of Andover, common brewer, 7 Sep 1785

8) Charles Heath, Thomas Heath and William Hawkins Heath all of Andover, brewers and partners, sons of Charles Heath decd, 12 Nov 1814

9) Thomas Heath and William Hawkins Heath of Andover, brewers and partners, 1 May 1829

10-11) Thomas Heath and William Hawkins Heath of Andover, brewers and partners, 29 Nov 1841

12) Henry Mason of Winchester, merchant, 4 Feb 1856

As you can see from the list William Baynes mentioned after Thomas Baynes as holding the lease 14yrs prior in 1724 is the first of the lease holders to be referred to as Inn Holder. This may be a coincidence but it could be the first time the lodge is used as an Inn, meaning the start of the Inn can be dated to 1724. All the lease holders after this date are referred to either as Inn Holders, Wine Merchants or Brewers meaning that even if 1724 isn’t the exact date the Inns origins must have been around that date. However at this point the Inn would not yet be called “The Plume Of Feathers” but “The Fighting Cocks”  as was still known by this name in 1760 when the Chamber above the West Gate became the smoking room for it. As is made clear from the List also is that John Gauntlett of Winchester a local wealthy wine merchant was the first person to own both plot A and B therefore the start of the area known later as “The Plume of Feathers” possibly started then in 1755. Thomas Heath and William Hawkins Heath of Andover were the people owning the premises during the time the building on plot B took place in 1829 but what work was undertaken is still unsure. The chamber above the west gate as mentioned earlier was to be part of “The Plume of Feathers” before this however in the 16th century it was referred to as “The Ancient City Coffer” until it then became the prison, the Prison then closed between 1745-60 and the chamber then became a smoking room for the “Fighting Cocks” as mentioned earlier used for ‘fencing, theatrical and musical exhibitions’ the Hampshire Chronicle from 1888 described a smoking room as “The Centre of conversational communication and enjoyment after the apron was hung up and the eight o’clock suppers eaten”. In 1837 the chamber was converted for use as a store for the city’s archives, before opening as a museum in 1898 which is what it is still used for today. The Plume of Feathers was described in the 1820’s as a homely domestic building at this point the buildings West side was a modest building which resembled a small cottage in architectural style however in the late 19th century the building was remodelled by a local architect Thomas Stopher Jnr, with a high mock tower on the West side and fake castellated fronts for both sides, the idea being that it would blend in with the West Gate giving a medieval look to the whole part of wall. However this effect was not really achieved and from looking at pictures from modern day standards looks more inappropriate and less authentic the opposite of what it is assumed Thomas Stopher Jnr was trying to achieve. There was a board on the fake tower reading “The Plume of Feathers Wootton and Co’s Entire” yet on the East side of the building the sign reads “Strong & Co. Of Romsey Road” showing that at around the time that the refurbishment had taken place Strongs had taken over the running of the pub as the pub as between 1937 – 1939 The Plume of Feathers is purchased from Strongs. In 1912 the pub took over as the new headquarters for “'Wither's Own' Boy Scout troop in Winchester” and was their headquarters until 1921 as recorded by Stanley Richardson on April 16th 1977 when he recorded his memories of Winchester. The pub was demolished in 1938 when proposals to build new council buildings and a road in the West Gate area were approved however due to the war these plans were unable to take place until the 1950’s. However difficult it was to attempt to investigate what happened to “The Plume of Feathers” (through the course of History, the change of names dates etc) the main facts seem to have held. The Inn itself and “the porters lodge” seem (until the mid 19th century) to have the lease held by only a few families keeping the pub through most eras quite a family run business. It has had many uses throughout history and the close tie with the West Gate chamber helped certain records to be available. The pub itself would have been seen by most people who came to Winchester as the West Gate is today and found fame because of this. So much so in fact that people who never even lived through the time when the building was still standing still talk about it.

Yates, P.       Time Gentleman Please: The Story of Winchester’s Pubs, Breweries and Hotels past and present  (Winchester,2007) Warren, W. The New Illustrated Shilling Guide to Winchester (London, 1902) Leases for the porters' lodge (A) and a plot of ground (B) (Tower Street, Winchester) Date 1687-1856 (Hampshire Record Office) Richardson, S. “WINCHESTER MEMORIES, NO. 8* (Series WINCHESTER MEMORIES) A recording by STANLEY RICHARDSON on April 16th 1977, who recalls the 'Wither's Own' Boy Scout troop in Winchester, 1908-1921”