Beaconsfield and District Historical Society

PICTURE (TOP):
Workers at
Marlow Brewery
around 1900.
  • 1213 or 1242 – which pub is the oldest?

The society's website includes a collection of pubs in and around Beaconsfield.
Click on the links to find more information about:

  • The Royal Standard of England
    (pictured right),
    is in Forty Green, where the first mention of the inn, originally known as 'Se Scip' (The Ship), was in 1213. It got its present name after Charles II's restoration to the throne in 1660 when, it is said the new king bestowed its name in recognition of the landlord's support for the Royalists in the Civil War.
  • The Swan Inn, first mentioned in 1611, had 17th-century wall paintings which were discovered in 1966. One showed a lute player (below right) in full breeches and hose tied at the knee with garters, while another was of a man with a hawk or hooded falcon on his wrist. These are now in the County Museum in Aylesbury, as the inn itself has been replaced by shops.
  • The Bull Inn, was on the north side of London End as the first coaching inn that travellers saw when arriving from London. Joseph Grimsdale (Grimsdell), innkeeper at the Bull about 1650, issued his 'inn farthing', a local trading token, in 1658. A Londoner, William Willis, took over the Bull when Grimsdale died in 1666, and issued another token in 1668, this time a halfpenny.
  • The Saracen's Head, is considered the oldest inn still in business in Beaconsfield itself. It was first mentioned obliquely in the will of an innkeeper in 1510, and then by name in 1545. Written evidence to suggest that an inn existed on the site, on the corner of London End and Windsor End, as far back as 1242.
  • Who we are:
  • The society aims to encourage the study of history,especially relating to Beaconsfield and its environs. Our website contains our collection of local historical photographs, documents and maps as well as articles about the town, places of local interest and famous inhabitants. It is continually being updated.
  • Our activities:
  • Our normal programme of eight talks held between October and March at the Fitzwilliams Centre in Beaconsfield has been cancelled because of the Covid-19 epidemic, but we plan to resume talks on Zoom from January 2021.
  • We usually also run seven or eight summer coach visits to sites of historical interest.
  • Volunteers meet regularly to catalogue and digitise our archive collection. Taking account of current government guidelines, socially-distanced sessions have recently restarted at the Curzon Centre in Beaconsfield.
  • Enquiries about the society:
  • For details of our activities and publications please see our website or email info@beaconsfieldhistory.org.uk.
  • For membership enquiries please email membership@beaconsfieldhistory.org.uk.
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Thanks to Margaret and Mike Grace of Beaconsfield and District Historical Society for providing content for this page.