[Ye Olde Salutation Inn team]
Ye Olde Salutation Inn team
 |
the Salutation team, left to right: Neil Moore (licensee), Polly Sanders (duty manager) and Lianne Ferguson (one of the bar team) |
Neil Moore, Polly Sanders and Lianne Ferguson are trying to prove that theirs is the oldest pub in Nottingham.
THE SALUTATION
Polly takes Tony Robinson and Dr Tony Waltham into the caves beneath the pub for an expert analysis. According to Tony W,
these caves would have been good for beer, but they wouldn't have
been used for living in or for cockfights or tanning. The floor
of the deepest cave suggests that it was used as an icehouse.
THE HISTORY ROOM
The team meets Adrian Henstock, principal archivist of the Nottinghamshire
Record Office. They examine deeds going back to 1829 and directories
that date to 1799, and then look in the card index under 'pubs'.
CAVES OF NOTTINGHAM EXHIBITION
Polly and the two Tonys visit this exhibition beneath the Broad
Marsh shopping centre, to see what a real tanning cave looks like.
THE HISTORY ROOM
Polly, Anna and Lianne examine a map of 1744, and then the Nottingham Calendar of Recognizances of Innkeepers,
dating 1756-69. They find that a George Bennett is listed as landlord
in 1769 and a Samuel Walkden in 1756. They decide to look for
wills and probates in these names.
THE SALUTATION
Neil, accompanied by Dr Philip Dixon, reader in medieval archaeology,
look at the crown post roof, which, says Phil, would have a date
no later than 1450. In fact, the dendrochronological date for
the building has been recorded as 1440.
THE HISTORY ROOM
Adrian Henstock suggests that the Salutation team looks at fire
insurance records. They find the name of the landlord in 1725,
Samuel Hudson. Further searches result in Hudson's will and a
very detailed probate inventory of the pub. Adrian advises Neil
and Lianne to look under Jew Lane and St Nicholas' Street in an
index. They find references to two manorial rolls from 1414 and
order them.
When the documents arrive, they discover that one refers to a vintner's that isn't the Salutation, but the other does relate to the pub. The fact that this document has an earlier date (1414) than the building (1440) means that an earlier building once occupied the site.
Ye Olde Salutation Inn's version of its history
Ye Olde Salutation Inn, 15 June 1998
