Queen's Tavern

Name: The Queen's Tavern

Address, 6, Preston Street, Chorley

Queen's Tavern c.1960s

The Queen's Tavern is a distinctive building standing on the main road into Chorley from the north and was opposite the Parker's Arms Hotel (now demolished).  It is pictured when it was still a tavern but is no longer open for business today having closed in 2006.  

Following closure, it was reopened as a Chinese Restaurant for a while but that has now closed and its future remains uncertain.

Listed landlords were John Higginson (1841-51), Henry Kellett (1861-91), William Sharratt (1901), John Abbott Evans (1911), Arthur G Piggott (1921-36) and Elaine Shirley Urcelay (-1982). John Higginson's daughter Mary married Henry Kellett and after John died Henry and Mary carried on the business.

1841 Census

1851 Census

Queen's Tavern c.1978

1861 Census

Henry Kellett was living at the Queen's Tavern in the 1861 and 1871 census but is not listed as a beer seller or licensee, rather his original trade as a clogger and also farmer in 1861. Whether or not it was operating as a tavern during this period remains unclear.

1871 Census

1881 Census

At some point in the 1870-1880's the pub was acquired by the Plough Brewery (later known as John Mercer's) in Adlington and was also one of Dutton's tied houses in the 1900s.

1980s

1891 Census

1901 Census

1911 Census

1921 Census

1982 London Gazette Bankruptcy Paper Clipping

The Shanghai Restaurant (Queen's Tavern) 2015

A few years after the above photo the Shanghai closed and the pub has lay dormant for a number of years before being bought in 2026. What the future holds we simply do not know, but the building still stands proud on the northerly approach to the town and the pub's sign was visible once more in August.