Address: 73 Cheap Street.
Alternative Name: Axe & Compasses
This beerhouse stood at the entrance to the railway goods yard and coal depot, just north of the old railway bridge. Within a few yards were three other pubs; opposite was the Pigeons, the Sun was a few yards towards the town centre and the Railway Hotel on the other side of the bridge.
The earliest reference attributable to an Axe & Compass(es) is from a newspaper report on a fatal fire in Greenham in March 1845[1]; the deceased had been drinking (heavily) at the Axe & Compasses. Further newspaper reports[2],[3] show that the pub was being run by J(oseph) and Mrs (Hannah) Henwood. Some entries in directories and censuses give the name as the Axe & Compass. The problem with the information relating to Joseph Henwood is that his 1851[4] and 1861[5] census entries are for a property on the west side of St Mary’s Hill – the wrong side of the road! They also indicate that his immediate neighbour is another beer seller, John Newbery of the Pigeons. From this it can be inferred that the first (known) Axe & Compass(es) was located in a building to the south of the Pigeons. This became the Doves for a short period before disappearing in 1872 (see Doves).
The 1871 census entry for the next landlord, William Adams[6], shows another anomaly, this time the Axe & Compass is in Greenham. The reason for this is simple; the site of the Axe & Compass was in Greenham until 1878. In that year Newbury Borough boundaries were expanded to take in a section of Greenham that was well populated and contiguous with the Borough. However, these census entries are clear evidence that the name moved from Newbury to Greenham in the 1860s, even if the journey was only a few yards across the street. From this date the name is almost always given as the Axe & Compass, though there are occasional references to Compasess
The Axe & Compass occupied the northern half of a pair of semi-detached properties, both owned in 1910 by the South Berks Brewery Company . The attached property was occupied at that time by E C Wheeler, a bicycle dealer. However, this was about to change. In May 1910[7] the brewery applied to the Borough Magistrates for permission to make major alterations to the premises, including the demolition of several ‘unsightly buildings’. Following a strange interchange between the chairman of the Bench and the Brewery’s solicitor, permission was granted. It is likely that these improvements were almost a rebuild. Impressive tiled facades on the north side and the Cheap Street frontage advertise the South Berks Brewery Company. A picture from the 1950s, shows the facades with the hop leaf signs of Simonds looking a little incongruous.
The Axe & Compass with its impressive side entrance and decorative front. Shortly before it was demolished but still advertising the long lost South Berks Brewery. |
Most photographs of the Axe & Compass show what appears to be little more than a pair of buildings that are no bigger than a pair of 1930s semi-detached houses. However, appearances can be deceptive, an aerial photograph shows the extensive buildings that were attached to the rear. Indeed the roof of a large element of the complex behind the adjoining building (74 Cheap Street) advertised to passing aircraft its role from 1910, when James (Jimmy) Tufnail opened Newbury’s first cinema (Newbury Cinema) there. E C Wheeler moved to far more prestigious premises on the corner of Bridge Street and Mansion House Street.
The Axe & Compass operated for many years as a beer house, unable to sell spirits or wines, until, in 1957, it was finally granted a ‘publican’s’ or full license at the annual licensing session in February[8]. This decision in 1957 indicates a significant change in the attitude of the licensing justices whose predecessors spent the first half of the century trying to reduce the number of licenses. They would never have allowed a beer licence to be upgraded so easily. Only two years previously Simonds closed three fully licensed houses in order to get the licences transferred to more commercially viable beer houses[9]. However, times had changed and within another four years all the remaining beer houses had been granted full publican’s licences.
Newbury Cinema clearly visible on the roof over 30 years after it was closed. |
However, the Axe & Compass did not have long to make use of this new license. By the end of the 1950s plans were afoot to ease traffic congestion in Newbury by creating a new north-south route for the A34 trunk road that would bypass the centre of Newbury. A week before the Axe & Compass was finally awarded its full licence the Newbury Weekly News carried an article explaining that plans for a new road from the junction of St John’s Road and Greenham Road, up to the A4 would involve the demolition of four public houses[10] – including the Axe & Compass. In 1962 compulsory purchase orders were issued to obtain the land required for the new road[11]. This road improvement resulted in the demolition of the Axe & Compass and three other Newbury pubs (Sun, Greyhound and Robin Hood).
Description, 1909[12].
Axe & Compasss, beerhouse.
Public accommodation: Bar, 20ft by 11ft 9in; Taproom, 10ft 8in by 9ft; WC etc.
Private accommodation: Three bedrooms, sitting room and kitchen.
No stabling or accommodation for lodgers.
Note: This description was before the major renovations in 1910.
Some landlords:
| 1847–1864 | Joseph Henwood* | 1928-1932 | Gurth Henry Davis | |
| 1871–1901 | William Adams | 1933-1938 | William Charles Harris | |
| 1903–1909 | Thomas Mildenhall | 1939-1950 | John Walters | |
| 1909–1911 | Walter Robert Chaplin | |||
| 1911 | Charles Fisher | 1953-1954 | Oswald John Davies | |
| 1913 | C J Green | 1954-1961 | Walter Stanley Kent | |
| 1915-1924 | William John Tanner | |||
| 1928-1929 | Mrs Elizabeth A Tanner | |||
| *Axe & Compass I (see text) | ||||
[1] Reading Mercury, 3 March 1845
[2] Reading Mercury, 17 May 1845
[3] Reading Mercury, 7 June 1845
[4] 1851 Census Enumerator’s Books. TNA:HO107/1685/360 p49
[5] 1861 Census Enumerator’s Books. TNA:RG9/720/111 p2
[6] 1871 Census Enumerator’s Books. TNA:RG10/1248/64 p2
[7] Newbury Weekly News, 12 May 1910
[8] Newbury Weekly News, 7 February 1957.
Drink offences still higher than justices would like to see.
… New Licences
New publican’s licences were granted to Mr Walter Stanley Kent, of the Axe & Compass, Cheap-street, and Mrs Nellie Fry Pottinger, of the Red House, Hampton-road, both houses being previously licensed to sell only beer. … [This report is in error, the Red House was awarded a wine licence, not a publican;’s licence – see Newbury Petty Sessions register]
[9] Newbury Weekly News, 8 February 1955
[10] Newbury Weekly News, 5 February 1987 (reprint of item from 31 January 1957)
Details of the proposed north-south relief road which will involve the demolition of four public houses, three houses, five cottages, and three shops, were explained to Newbury Town Council on Monday by the borough surveyor, Mr E H Hutton. The new road is scheduled to be started at the completion of the east-west relief road, work on which os expected to begin in two or three months time and be finished in two years. The pubs to be demolished are the Adam & Eve, the Axe & Compass, the Greyhound and the Robin Hood. [In the end the Adam & Eve survived until the Sandleford Link was built, while the Sun made way for the Cheap Street junction with the new north-south road]
[11] Winchester-Preston TR (A34): Berkshire CC; Newbury North and South relief road roundabout at Bath Road junction. TNA:MT 139/17
[12] County Licensing Authority – Reports. 1909. BRO:Q/AC 6/5