Inns of Barrow upon Soar - The Blacksmiths Arms

 

Formerly The Hammers and Pincers

North Street

Before 1753 the building was used by Joseph Hull as a Blacksmiths. The blacksmith's business there was shown by having tools of the trade fixed to the outside wall - a hammer and a pair of pincers. When Joseph Hull died, Mrs Hull was unable to continue with the blacksmith's work and ran the inn, at that time named the Blacksmith's Arms; the name changed to the Hammer and Pincers in 1846. The building has changed over the years. The lounge was previously cottages and was used for brewery staff for accommodation until the late 1950s. This is the oldest part of the pub and was thatched until the end of the 19^th century. The Rose Room, the upstairs entertainment room was previously three letting rooms. It has a claim to fame! The Leicester based singer Jerry Dorsey was often booked and he later became known as Englebert Humperdinck.

In the part of the building that fronts North Street was a butcher's shop. The outbuildings were used as a slaughterhouse. To the right of the arch off North Street are stables and a coach house stood on what is now the car park. There were two wells in the yard. The wide pavement area running by the side door of the pub is common land and was used a market place. It is easy to imagine how this inn was used – a market on the doorstep, stabling, a coach house, food and drink available and, perhaps, overnight lodgings would have made this a thriving business; bring produce to sell at the market, have the horses re-shod while you have some food and drink in the pub.

When Glynn Hewitt retired in 2009 , Sharon Lockard took over the running of the pub. She had worked with Glynn and wanted the pub to continue as a community village pub. When she decided to call it a day the pub was bought by Mark Hammond and Jill Townend; after extensive refurbishment it reopened in 2013 with a new name which is a reminder of the blacksmiths that used to be on that site and which belonged to the first owner of the pub Joseph Hull. Their aim is to serve good food at affordable prices.

Landlords & Dates
1754 – 1757 Joseph Hull	1757 – 1758 Frances Hull	1758 – 1776 William Branston
1778 – 1779 Stephen Squire	1780 – 1789 Frances Branston	1790 – 1792 Thomas Hull
1793 – 1794 Jane Hull	1794 – 1809 Joseph Shepherd	1809 – 1814 Thomas Underwood
1815 – 1827 Joseph Priestly	1827 – 1883 mostly unknown (Edward Voce 1846)	1883 – 1884 Thomas King
1884 – 1886 William Millett	1886 – 1887 Albert Lord	1887 – 1889 William Clifford
1889 – 1890 Walton Goodwin	1890 – 1897 Thomas Thorneycroft	1898 – 1902 Harry Lewis
1902 – 1904 Henry Simpson	1904 – 1906 Harry Thorneycroft	1906 – 1907 Ernest Hickman
1907 – 1911 Joseph Page	1911 – 1915 John Mayes	1915 – 1930 Walter Smith
1930 – 1958 Walter Lockwood	1958 – 1984 Maurice Hewitt	1984 - 2009 Glynn Hewitt
2009 - 2013 Sharon Lockard	2013 - Present  Mark Hammond