Lost and former pubs in Stamford, Grantham, Spalding, Bourne, Market Deeping, Lincoln, Boston and Rutland
Pubs are an important part of British culture and heritage.
They are not only a place for a pint, but a meeting place to catch up with friends - both now and since they rose to popularity hundreds of years ago.
Not that long ago you wouldn’t be able to walk down a street without passing a pub, but in recent years that has changed as landlords call time and the buildings are given a new purpose.
Although there are too many lost pubs in Lincolnshire to count, we have come up with a list of 10 former watering holes to take you on a trip down memory lane.
The Pineapple, Stamford
Shoppers browsing the rails in Stamford’s New Look are standing in what once was a hive of raucous activity.
From the middle of the 19th century to 1961, part of the High Street shop was a pub known as The Pineapple.
After it was closed, Woolworths, which occupied the other half of the building at the time, knocked through the walls to create a bigger store.
Chris Hunt of the Stamford History Group described it as ‘a den of antiquity’, particularly during the war ‘when lots of Americans were looking for more than just a drink’.
Like many towns, a century ago you would struggle to walk a dozen metres without coming across a drinking establishment.
“There was nothing else to do except drink,” said Chris Hunt of the town history society.
“There were a lot of pubs in High Street, St Martins, St Mary’s Hill, St Mary’s Street and Scotgate.
“Before the railway there were lots of coaching inns which would serve people who were travelling through on the Great North Road.”
He added that pubs on Broad Street catered for the market-goers.
Also: Our Secret Drinker reviews pubs that are still open today
The Crown Inn, Bourne
A shopping arcade pays tribute to the pub which once stood in its place.
The Crown Inn off West Street, which is recorded as trading since the 19th Century, was gutted by a fire in 1991, shortly after it closed as a pub.
Before it was operated as the sought of pub we know today, The Crown Inn was a popular venue for dinners and smoking concerts.
But a Grantham-based developer saw its potential and three years later it reopened as shops following a £500,000 investment.
Businesses today include 23 Coffee, Crown Wok Chinese takeaway and Winkworth Estate Agents.
Some of the original features including the period facade remain.
The George Inn, Grantham
The George Shopping Centre in Grantham’s High Street was once a hotel. An inn at the site dates back to 1456, although it likely existed before then, and was rebuilt in 1780 in a Georgian style.
The final pints were served and last customers checked in during the 1980s before the building became a shopping centre the following decade.
The Grade II listed building is up for auction with a guide price of £1.55 million, which is the fourth time in 10 years it has been for sale.
In response to this, Grantham residents took to social media to share their thoughts on its current state, with some saying it “should have been left as it was”, in relation to its former purpose as an inn.
John Manterfield of Grantham’s Civic Society described it as a ‘substantial and impressive Georgian building’ and noted the archway which horses would have passed through remains.
Red Cow Hotel, Donington
This pub was a derelict shell of its former glory when it was turned into houses.
Dating back to the 17th century, the grade II listed hotel was refronted in 1800 and altered in the late 19th and 20th centuries.
In its prime it would host events ranging from cock-fights and horse races, to court leets, and estate meetings and numerous auctions of properties and land holdings.
There was also a long history of brewing on the premises.
What was once a thriving business, fizzled out with the pub shutting in the early 2000s and remaining empty and unused, which took a toll on the building.
After buying the eyesore pub at auction, developers created 18 homes within the Red Cow, its former ballroom and in the courtyard.
The Crown and Anchor, Grantham
Where a care home now stands was once a thriving pub.
The Crown and Anchor in Swinegate had served punters from the 1790s to the 1930s.
After the barrels emptied for the last time it became a garage before being demolished in the 1990s and rebuilt as King’s Court Care Home.
John Manterfield of Grantham’s Civic Society said: “At one point there were at least 130 pubs.
“Part of the reason was a lot of men in Grantham during the later Victorian and Edcwardian period and Second World War employed in manufacturing industries, particularly iron foundries.
“It was thirsty work.”
Ram Jam Inn, Stretton, Rutland
What was once a pub frequented by highwayman Dick Turpin, is soon to be home to a number of fast-food chains.
The Ram Jam Inn was a public house, restaurant and hotel dating back centuries.
It is rumoured in the 18th century that the pub attracted visitors such as highwayman Dick Turpin, who inspired the pub’s name by tricking the landlord to ram their thumb into a barrel leaving them stuck while he skipped out on the bill.
The hotel and restaurant off the A1 in Rutland closed in 2013 before being demolished a couple of years ago, despite objections of its historic value.
Costa Coffee, Wendy’s and Brightside Roadside Dining are all set to open at the Ram Jam Services, near Stretton, alongside the already established petrol station and Hambleton Bakery.
The Black Bull, Stamford
What is soon to be luxury accommodation was once a hotel watering hole and a popular local.
Work is underway to turn the pub building, which adjoins the old Stamford Hotel, into luxury housing as part of a multi-million pound refurbishment.
The Stamford Walk building was previously home to a pub, which went by many names, and was rebuilt ‘to an extraordinary scale’ in the early 1800s.
By 1828 the pub was the hotel tap but later became independent by 1904.
Much of it was demolished in 1936 by the Westminster Press, the then-publisher of the Rutland & Stamford Mercury, to make space for a new building to house a rotary press.
Also known as the Stamford Post Hotel and the Hotel Tap, the pub closed in the late 1980s after trading under the name The Ostler.
It reopened in 1993 under its old name of the Black Bull but closed in the 2000s, and became shops.
The Three Tuns, Market Deeping
The pub, which stood opposite The Boundary fish shop, met a dramatic ending.
While closed and awaiting renovation The Three Tuns was gutted by a fire in August 1998, having previously suffered issues with vandalism and break ins.
As firefighters attempted to tackle the blaze in Bridge Street, they were forced to evacuate when the roof began to collapse on top of them.
It had traded since the 1820s and, according to the Deepings Heritage group, its name derived from the three barrels, or tuns, on the Arms of the Worshipful Companies of Vintners and Brewers.
The building was demolished and replaced by an apartment block in 2000.
The Cornhill Vaults, Lincoln
The Cornhill Vaults pub opened in 1976 and closed in 2002.
Despite its relatively short trading period, it is renowned within the city and beyond, and even has Facebook groups dedicated to it.
The tunnels that made up the Vaults are said to have been originally constructed as a grain store underneath the Corn Exchange and later transformed into a pub by Ruddles Brewery, before being taken over by Samuel Smith’s Brewery.
The former pub is also a rumoured site for hauntings and paranormal activity.
When the Lincolnshire Co-op, the owner, decided to redevelop the Corn Exchange site and close the Vaults, regulars campaigned to reverse the decision but they could not be convinced, and the doors finally closed in January 2002.
It is now a hub for retail and leisure.
The Welland Inn, Spalding
It was a seven-year project to turn the former pub in London Road into a high-end family home.
The Welland Inn is thought to have been in business for more than 150 years.
According to the book 'More Aspects of Spalding,' by Michael Elsden, it was listed as Welland Cottage in the 1840s.
In the early 1900s it was classified as an inn and before that was likely a beer house with no licence to sell wines and spirits.
The derelict pub, which had attracted squatters, was bought in 2009 by electrical contractor Peter Harper who initially intended to do a quick year-long renovation but in the end it took that long just to secure planning permission.
It took seven years to complete work and was put on the market in 2022, with the house still boasting some original features.
Peacock and Royal, Boston
This pub got its name after a visit from a royal guest - but feathers were ruffled when it was demolished and a shop built in its place.
For over 200 years, The Old Peacock Inn was a busy coaching house with a brewery, stables, trap sheds, blacksmiths and saddlers as well as a pavilion and bowling green operating from within the grounds of the hotel.
The building in Market Place was demolished in the mid 18th Century and rebuilt in a recognisable Georgian style.
In 1880 the inn got a visit from Queen Victoria's son, HRH Alfred Ernest Albert Duke of Edinburgh, and was thereafter known as the Peacock and Royal.
It was put up for auction in 1917 and reopened again after the Second World War before closing a couple of decades later when last orders were called in December 1962.
The building was demolished and a shop rebuilt in its place.
What was your favourite pub? Share your memories in the comments.
