Constructed during the 1860s, the Inn first opened in 1867 as an unlicensed drinking house but its landlord James Kitchingham then obtained a license. This coincided with the opening of the brickfield in the area which brought business, while boatmen who arrived at Otterham Quay also visited the inn. Competition existed with the Anchor & Hope Inn located on the wharf at Otterham Quay and The Three Sisters a short distance along Otterham Quay Lane.
The inn took its name from Thomas Stanley Wakeley of Rainham who worked as a partner in Wakeley Brothers hop and fruit business. He also served as an Evangelical preacher and held services for his Upchurch congregation at Wakeley’s granary also located at Otterham.
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The Lord Stanley Inn - inset Thomas Stanley Wakeley. |
The Lord Stanley Inn had one large bar downstairs and four bedrooms upstairs with an outside toilet. The brewers Style & Winch provided beer. Popular beers included stout, English porter and pale ale during the second part of the 19th century.
The inn also became the site for official inquests into mysterious deaths. According to the ‘Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald’ dated July 19th 1884, an inquest took place into the drowning of a boy named Charles Edward Barnes aged six and the coroner Mr W J Harris gave a verdict of ‘accidently drowned.’
A succession of landlords managed the inn. Firstly, James Kitchingham worked as the proprietor from September 1867. Edward Holman took over in 1891 and managed the inn until 1902. Henry Goldswain succeeded him and became proprietor from May 1902 until July 1907. After this a man named George Squires lived in the building for several years until John Barnes bought it in 1913. Well-known Upchurch builder Bob Barnes from Oak Lane says:
“My grandfather worked in the brickfield and lived at Plantation Cottages near Windmill Hill. He saved enough money to buy the inn. When he bought the building he never ran it as an inn, he converted it into a grocery store.”
John Barnes managed the grocery store as a family business and delivered groceries on his horse and cart to local residents in Upchurch and Lower Halstow. When he died in 1956 his daughter Ethel took over and ran the store until 1972 when the introduction of VAT caused her to finish the business. She delivered groceries to local residents in her old black Austin-7 accompanied by her loyal and trusty black and white sheepdog named Rex. Bob Barnes remembers the dog periodically wandering up to his house in Oak Lane when his parents lived there and then returning to Otterham Quay.
Fire ultimately destroyed the Lord Stanley Inn building in 1980. Ethel Barnes had already moved to Tufton Road in Rainham where she lived well into her nineties. A wood yard and bungalow were then constructed on the site. Nowadays, the bungalow, now known as ‘The Lord Stanley Bungalow,’ continues to exist and the former inn is just a distant memory.
David Wood
About David
David Wood was born, raised and still lives in Upchurch today. He is able to write from personal experience about village life and the changes that have taken place over the years, making ‘Memories of Upchurch’ a very readable and detailed historical study of the village.
David's book is available from David at david3702001@yahoo.co.uk or from us here at Upchurch Matters. Price £12 + postage and packing.
