Bamber Bridge - Ye Olde Original Withy Trees

Name: Ye Olde Original Withy Trees

Address: 157, Station Road, Bamber Bridge

First reference I can find to the Original Withy Trees is on the 1834 Directory below when Richard Fairclough was the landlord.  Prior to being a public house it was Withy Trees Farm and the original building dates back to several hundred years. This whole area of Bamber Bridge was referred to as "Withy Trees" and various properties lying within it took the name e.g. Withy Trees Cotton Mill, Withy Trees Cottages, Withy Trees Mill Cottages and of course, the New Withy Trees Public House on the corner of Station Road and Brownedge Lane, now known as the Withy Arms.

1834 Pigot's Directory - Richard Fairclough

Listed landlords at the Inn were Richard Fairclough (1834), William Worsley (1841), William Snailham (1846), Thomas Kenyon (1848-61), Alfred Syms (1866-67), James Wilcock (1869-), Alice Wilcock (1871-81), Thomas Kenyon Jnr (1891-1912) and Margaret Winders (1917).

1841 Census William Worsley

The following press article below from 1842 records the existence of a Greyhound Inn in Bamber Bridge. This is confirmed as being the Old Withy Trees when the landlord Thomas Kenyon died in 1861 (see lower down the page for further details).

PIGEON SHOOTING 

A MATCH at PIGEONS will come off at the Greyhound Inn, Bamber Bridge, on Wednesday next, the 19th day of October, 1842. The match to consist of 10 members, 5s. each, five birds each. Distance 21 yards, Boundary 80 yards, charge of shot limited to one and a half oz. Shooting to commence at one o clock. Any persons desirous of entering for the above Sweepstakes, are requested to send in their names as soon as possible.                               

Preston Chronicle 15th October 1842

1845 Map

Ye Olde Original Withy Arms courtesy of Gordon Small

1846 Slater's Directory - William Snailham

Advertisements & Notices
TO BE LET BY PROPOSAL all that well-accustomed PUBLIC-HOUSE known by the sign of the "Original Withy Trees," at Bamber Bridge, in Walton-le-dale, in the county of Lancaster, with the Outbuildings, and Ten Acres of Meadow and Pasture.
02 September 1848 - Preston Chronicle - Preston, Lancashire, England

1851 Census

1854 Mannex Directory

1855 Slater's Directory - Thomas Kenyon

1861 Census

1861 Burial at St Saviours Thomas Kenyon

The press article below from the Blackburn Standard announcing notable local deaths provides evidence that the Inn was, at least for a period of time in the 1860s known as the Greyhound Inn.

On the Ist instant, Mr. Thomas Kenyon, of the Greyhound Inn, Withy Trees, Bamber Bridge, formerly of the Old Oak Lv, Longridge, aged 46 years. 

12 June 1861 - Blackburn Standard - Blackburn, Lancashire, England

1861 Probate record for Thomas Kenyon

Marriage: 12 Dec 1867 St Saviour, Bamber Bridge, Lancashire, England

Thomas Sharpe - 25 Mill Wright Bachelor of Walton-le-Dale 

Jane Kenyon - 22 Spinster of Bamber Bridge 

    Groom's Father: Thomas Sharpe, Mill Wright

    Bride's Father: Thomas Kenyon, Publican

    Witness: John Sharpe; Elizabeth Sharpe

    Married by Licence by: William Webb Curate

    Register: Marriages 1839 - 1887, Page 97, Entry 194

    Source: LDS Film No 1471151

Advertisements & Notices
 A PIGEON SHOOT FOR A LARGE FAT PIG on Monday the 7th day of January 1867, at Alfred Syms's, The Original Withy Trees Inn, Bamber Bridge, three miles from Preston, and about five minutes' walk from Bamber Bridge Station. Conditions : 22 members
05 January 1867 - Preston Chronicle - Preston, Lancashire, England

1869 Slater's Directory - Jas Wilcock

1871 Census

1872 Marriage record for Thomas Kenyon Jnr

1881 Census

1891 Census

JOHN CRITCHLEY Will Sell by Auction, on Tuesay, December 22nd 1896, at 2 pm at Mr. Kenyon’s, The Old Original Withy Trees, Bamber Bridge, near Preston a large quantity of excellent and useful bound timber. 
19 December 1896 - Preston Herald - Preston, Lancashire, England

The marriage record of Thomas's daughter Hannah Maria is recorded below at St Saviours in 1897.

Marriage: 23 Nov 1897 St Saviour, Bamber Bridge, Lancashire, England
William Calbraith - 25 Shop keeper Bachelor of Bamber Bridge 
Hannah Maria Kenyon - 22 Spinster of Bamber Bridge 
    Groom's Father: Joseph Calbraith, Shop Keeper (deceased)
    Bride's Father: Thomas Kenyon, Inn keeper
    Witness: Richard Kenyon; Emma Calbraith
    Married by Banns by: James Taylor Vicar
    Notes: [Name and occupation of groom and bride's fathers are reversed in the register]
    Register: Marriages 1887 - 1900, Page 112, Entry 223

    Source: LDS Film 1471151

1901 Census

1909 Map

1911 Census

1911 Census

1912 Probate for Thomas Kenyon Jnr

1917 Barratt's Directory - Margaret Winders

TO Let, Original Withy Trees” Bamber Bridge (fully licensed), wild land attached. For particulars apply personally to J. B. Almond, The Brewery, Standish
10 July 1933 - Lancashire Evening Post - Preston, Lancashire, England

For more information on the J.B.Almond Brewery in Standish following the link below: -

The Almonds and The Beeches Standish