Adlington - Golden Pheasant

Name: The Golden Pheasant

Address: 2, Bear Lane aka Market Street, Adlington

The Golden Pheasant has long since closed its doors for business; pictured above it has more recently been converted into flats.  On census records it was located near to the Clayton's Arms on Bear aka Bare Lane on what is now Market Street near to the White Bear Bridge. The road has been known by a variety of names including Nightingale Road.

I can find no trace of the beer house after the 1861 census other than a press cutting from 1868 shown below. 

The landlords at the Golden Pheasant were Richard Tyrer (1841-50), his son George Tyrer (-1855), George's widow Mary Ellen Tyrer (1855-61) and Elizabeth Riding (1868).

1841 Census

1849 Map of Adlington

By 1851 Richard Tyrer was the landlord at the Clayton's Arms up the road where he remained until 1857.  At that time he moved to the Cardwell Arms and was there until his death in 1860.

Burial: 22 Nov 1860 Christ Church, Adlington, Lancashire, England
Richard Tyrer -
    Age: 53 years
    Abode: Adlington
    Buried by: Thos Carpenter Incumbent
    Register: Burials 1839 - 1900, Page 41, Entry 327
    Source: LDS Film 1526077

His son George and wife Mary Ellen went on to run the Golden Pheasant in the 1850-60's.  They had one son, Richard Tyrer born in 1855, just a year before George's own untimely death at the age of just 24 years.

Richard's marriage record below confirms that George ran the pub in the 1850's prior to his death.

Marriage: Oct 1877 Christ Church, Adlington, Lancashire, England
Richard Tyrer - 22, Clogger, Bachelor, Adlington
Nanny Hill - 21, Housemaid, Spinster, Duxbury
    Groom's Father: George Tyrer, Publican
    Bride's Father: Samuel Hill, Watchmaker
    Witness: John Mitchell; Sarah Norris
    Married by Banns by: Thos Carpenter Vicar
    Notes: [There is no date for this wedding only October 1877 the record before is dated
           6th October the record after is dated 3rd November]
    Register: Marriages 1876 - 1886, Page 14, Entry 28
    Source: LDS 1526077

Blackburn Standard 06 July 1853

There is mention of the pub in following interesting excerpt from the booklet, “A MOMENT IN TIME - Adlington, Anderton & Heath Charnock 2015 with a look back to the past”: - 

There are 10 pubs in Adlington and district, some of which have names of local interest.

The Cardwell, Chorley Road, is named for Viscount Cardwell of Ellerbeck, whose estate included Nightingales, Rawlinson Lane. Viscount Cardwell was the Secretary of State for War in the Gladstone Government of 1868-74, and in that capacity he brought about significant reforms to the Army.

The Ridgway, Chorley Road, (now a convenience store) is named after the Ridgway family, who were bleachers in Horwich.

The Clayton Arms, Market Street, (now offices) is named after the family who lived at Adlington Hall.

The former Railway Inn, Market Street, is so called because the White Bear Line railway ran behind it.

The name of the Bridge Inn is self-evident, and other names reflect the nature of life around Adlington – the Millstone, the Bay Horse, Black Horse, White Horse and the top and bottom Spinners remind us of agriculture and the cotton industry.

Two of the oldest pubs in Adlington have more traditional inn names: the White Bear, which is probably heraldic, and the Elephant and Castle, said to be derived either from “Infanta of Castile”, i.e. a Spanish princess, or from the arms of the Worshipful Company of Cutlers. It is also on the Bolton coat-of-arms. No one really knows, and no discernible significance for Adlington. Mr Salmon remembered visiting the Elephant & Castle pub as a young lad, because his grandparents were the licensees. As there were no licensing hours in those days, pubs could serve whenever they wanted to. The Elephant & Castle would open at 6am and the landlady would serve full breakfasts to those mill workers who were on the early shifts. She was a tough woman who would stand no nonsense and she had a large stick behind the bar which she was not afraid to use on anyone causing trouble, or who used bad language.

The Black Horse, Long Lane, Limbrick, is on, or near, the site of premises licensed for the sale of beer since 1577. The Yew Tree, now a country restaurant, was granted a licence at the end of the 19th century. It had previously been a grocery and bake-house. It was more generally known as “The Frozen Mop” – Imagine a tongue in cheek reference to the inn sign.

Among pubs now long disappeared were the Golden Pheasant, Bear Lane and the Plough, Market Street. Some streets now appear to have irrelevant names, but there was indeed a mill (Higher Mill) on Mill Street and a Primitive Methodist Chapel on Chapel Street. The former Christ Church gave that section of the A6 the name of Church Street. It still has the recognisable form of a church, but is now a restaurant. Harrison Road used to be Blacking Mill Lane because of the factory there which made blacking, or black leading. Park Road has had several changes of name. It was Bottling Lane, then when the cemetery was made, it became Cemetery Road, and finally, in the early 20th century, it was changed to its present name. Babylon Lane is a puzzle now. The name appears on a map of 1845, and one of the few buildings then on the lane was called Babylon. It is recorded on the 1851 census as Babylon Cottage. It is certainly unusual, and a talking-point for newcomers, until one gets used to it. Before there was a railway to name Railway Road, I was called Bobby Lane. It was more than 40 years later that the name became Railway Road. Market Street was properly the Westhoughton & Adlington Turnpike Trust road, with a section at one time being Bear Lane, and squares and rows, variously named and all long disappeared. Before the second half of the 19^th century, street names changed apparently at will. In the 1851 census again, Market Street and Chorley Road are Lower and Higher Lane respectively. The section of Rawlinson Lane leading to Wigan Lane, was once called Stocks Lane, after the Duxbury stocks nearby. That area was a part of the Duxbury estate.

Who was Nick Hilton? The lane that bears his name runs from New Road to the Yew Tree, and includes Nick Hilton’s Bridge and the derivative Nickleton Brow. Parish registers and the occasional court record show that there were Hiltons in this part of Heath Charnock for centuries, and Nicholas was a family name running down the years. Another strange name belongs to a pleasant, rural part of Heath Charnock between Hut Lane and Limbrick, which is locally known as Abyssinia. Various theories have been expounded, but all was made clear when a venerable resident informed the Chorley Guardian that the Abyssinia Brickworks used to be there, and the name has stuck. Perhaps strangest of all, and thankfully now known as Rivington Lane, Anderton, the old name for that lane near Headless Cross was Pikker Poke (1851) or Pickerpoke Lane (1861).

Preston Chronicle 03 September 1859

1861 Census

Preston Chronicle 03 October 1868