Miners' Arms

Name: The Miners' Arms

Name: 108, Market Street, Chorley

The Miner's Arms 2015

The Miners' Arms has not been a pub for many years now, however the building on Market Street remains and adjoins the Godfather takeaway (pictured just on the left of the above photo), which was also once a town centre pub; the Brown Cow. Somewhere to the rear of these buildings there was a mine in the 1800's which undoubtedly provided inspiration for the pub's name.

George Birtill's article on the pubs of Chorley records the fact that this pub was once called the Bull & Butcher but changed its name to the Miners', as it was owned by a local mining company whose miners provided the regular custom.

The very first recorded entry for this pub was on the 1861 census and at this time it was actually called the Peacock Tavern (see below); records thereafter refer to the Miners' Arms. Listed landlords and tenants were William Cunliffe (1861), George Whalley (1871), John Lyons (1876), John Higgans (1881), Hugh Commons (1891), Richard Holding (1901), Harold Baxendale (1911-) and Michael Cowling (1921).

1861 Census

1871 Census

The tenant on the occasion of the 1871 census was a man called George Whalley who is listed as a builder and contractor employing 32 men and 5 boys; whether or not beer was being sold from the premises is not clear however it certainly was five years later when this article was written: -

Preston Chronicle 11 November 1876

1881 Census

1891 Census

Blackburn Standard 26 August 1893

1901 Census

1911 Census

The tenant at the time of the 1911 was Harold Baxendale who is shown as a saddler. There is no mention of it being a licensed premises post-1911. 

1921 Census Michael Cowling (Collier)

Kindly provided by his Great Grandson, Adrian Beaumont

It appears that following closure as a licensed premises the property continued to be used for the treatment of skin, animal or human, on and off for the next 100 years.

July 2017