Sebastopol Inn

Name: The Sebastopol Inn

Address: 290 (later 294) Moor Road, Chorley

The Sebastopol was one of two pubs (the other being the Alma further up Moor Road) that were named after events in the Crimean war, the defence of Sebastopol 1854-55 being a key battle of the Crimean War of 1853-1856.

1910 Map

The Inn is located on the edge of an area between Moor Road and Dob Brow previously known as Plymouth Bridge.  Reference to this is found on the 1861 census record below when Thomas Greenwood, a shopkeeper and beer seller was resident at the address.

Listed landlord were Thomas Greenwood (1861-71), Thomas Baxendale (1879-89), Ann Baxendale (1891-95), Robert Crook (1901), Eli Gee (1911), James Bolton (1918-), Edward Fisher (1935), James Barrow (1936) and Bert Stewart (mid-1970's-1985).

1861 Census

1871 Census

Thomas Baxendale had been the landlord up until the late 1880's when following his death his wife Ann continued the business. Marriage records for their son Wilfrid confirm that they were still there in 1895: -

Marriage: 10 Aug 1895 St George, Chorley, Lancashire, England

Wilfrid Baxendale - 20 Joiner Bachelor of Sebastopol Inn

Ellen Fisher - 21 Winder Spinster of 5 Lupton Street

Groom's Father: Thomas Baxendale, Deceased, Joiner

Bride's Father: Elijah Fisher, Deceased, Colour Mixer

Witness: John Fisher; Margaret Alice Rogerson

Married by Banns by: J. A. Pattinson M. A. Vicar

1881 Census

1891 Census

The Sebastopol Inn - known as Sam's Too up to Nov 2015

1901 Census

1911 Census

Chorley Pals Connection

Pte William Bolton

Private William BOLTON 15641 enlisted in the town on the 27th September 1914 and served in No. 9 Platoon. William was 25 years of age when he died from a wound to his chest on the 1st July 1916.

He was seen by Private Richard Barrow lying in a shell hole in No Man’s Land and is buried, close to where he fell, in Queens Cemetery at Serre; on his grave is the inscription “At rest”. William was reported as missing after the battle and later declared dead in April 1917 – his body no doubt found after a search of the battlefield once the Germans retreated from Serre in the spring of that year.

Born in Chorley on the 1st December 1890, William was one of seven children born to Jane Elizabeth (nee Greenwood) and James Bolton. In 1901 the family lived at 250 Moor Road in Chorley. He married Nellie Evans in the spring of 1914 and they lived at 292 Moor Road in Chorley, working at Birkacre Bleachworks and attending St. George’s Church. His parents ran the Sebastopol pub on Moor Road after the war.

Lancashire Evening Post 01 June 1921

1921 Census James Bolton

Lancashire Evening Post 25 January 1935

Chorley Guardian 14 November 2001

A new book could be published to celebrate the memory of a Chorley author, publican and railway fanatic. 

Bert Stewart, who was born in Adlington and spent his final days living in Carr Barn Brow, Clayton Brook, has died at the age of 79 and now his family hope that his final work can be put into print. Bert spent most of his days around railways and had written a successful book in 1982 called On The Right Lines about his memories of watching steam trains as a youngster.  He eventually stepped onto the footplate himself to become a train driver.

His brother, Horace, 84, who lives on the same road, said: “He lived for trains and drove the Sir Nigel Gresley. It wasn’t just his hobby it was his life.”

Bert’s nephew, Peter Merchant-Stewart said: “He lost his wife Nora in 1993 and then had a stroke in 1996. He learned to walk and talk again but had to learn to write again with his left hand. He wrote another book, Further On the Right Lines, and we are hoping to get it published in his memory. He left Chorley at some point to work in Crewe on the trains, which was then British Rail, and was a top grade train driver most of his life.”

Bert was a member of many railway societies, including The A4 Society based in York and the Mainline Preservation Society in Leicester. He will also be fondly remembered for being the landlord of the Sebastopol pub on Moor Lane, near Coppull, where he took charge from the mid 70s to 1985.