Horwich - Brown Cow

Name: The Brown Cow

Address: 36, Church Street, Horwich

The Brown Cow has been a part of Horwich social life for around 200 years and was one of the earliest pubs in the town.  More recently it's had a face lift and is the now the Bank Top Ale House, run by the Bank Top Brewery, a local real ale brewery from Bolton.

The postal address of the Brown Cow was originally no.27 Church Street although at some time between 1881 and 1891 the numbering system changed and it became no.36. Church Street wasn't the only street affected by these changes and the reason for the change is not known to me at this time.

1825 History Directory and Gazetteer of the County Pallatine of Lancaster

Listed landlords at the pub were Thomas Bentley (1825-36), James Waring (1841), Ralph Pendlebury (1851-60), John & Ann Pendlebury (1859-66), William Fogg (1866), Robert Fogg (1866-69), Thomas Hood (1870-71), Elijah Heath (1872-74), Henry Beddows (1876), Henry Thomas Lawton (1877-89), Charlotte Lawton (1889-1890), Charles Harry Albert Barnes Ashworth (1890-97), George Cunliffe (1897-04), Ann Cunliffe (1904), John Henry Waters (1911) and Dave Sweeney (2013).

1836 Poll Books

c.1935

1841 Census James Waring

Burial: 7 Dec 1843 Horwich Chapel, Horwich, Lancashire, England

Thomas Bentley - Age: 66 yrs

    Abode: Horwich

    Buried by: D. S. Hodgson, Curate

    Register: Burials 1838 - 1853, Page 72, Entry 571

    Source: LDS Film 2113122

1845 Map

1851 Census Ralph Pendlebury

History and Directory of Mid Lancashire (Deane Parish) 1854

Marriage: 18 Dec 1859 Horwich Chapel, Horwich, Lancs.

John Partington - 26 Finisher Bachelor of Horwich 

Elizabeth Pendlebury - 26 Spinster of Horwich 

    Groom's Father: Richard Partington, Stone Mason

    Bride's Father: John Pendlebury, Inn Keeper

    Witness: William Dickinson; Sarah Stubbs

    Married by Banns by: A. Hall

    Register: Marriages 1854 - 1881, Page 36, Entry 71

    Source: LDS Film 2113122

1861 Census John Pendlebury

Marriage: 3 Mar 1862 Horwich Chapel, Horwich, Lancs.

William Pendlebury - 31 Bachelor of Horwich 

Mary Howarth - 31 Dress Maker Spinster of Horwich 

    Groom's Father: John Pendlebury, Inn Keeper

    Bride's Father: Thomas Howarth, Book Keeper

    Witness: John H. Howarth; Margaret Pendlebury

    Married by Banns by: William Baker, M.A. Curate

    Register: Marriages 1854 - 1881, Page 53, Entry 106

    Source: LDS Film 2113122

Burial: 27 Jun 1864 Horwich Chapel, Horwich, Lancashire, England
Ralph Pendlebury - Age: 41
    Abode: Horwich
    Buried by: William Baker, M.A. Curate
    Register: Burials 1853 - 1873, Page 163, Entry 1299
    Source: LDS Film 2113122

1871 Census Thomas Hood

1876-1877 Post Office Directory of Bolton

Marriage: 3 Apr 1878 Horwich Chapel, Horwich, Lancs.

Robert Lawton - 29 Quarryman Bachelor of Horwich 

Ann Marsden - 27 Doubler Spinster of Horwich 

    Groom's Father: William Lawton, Inn Keeper

    Bride's Father: John Marsden, Dyer

    Witness: John Brotherton; Ann Brotherton

    Married by Banns by: H.S. Pigot, Vicar

    Register: Marriages 1854 - 1881, Page 212, Entry 424

    Source: LDS Film 2113122

1881 Thomas Lawton

1891 Census Charles Ashworth

1892 Map

1901 Census George Cunliffe

1899 Horwich Freemason Members
George Cunliffe

1911 Census Peter Henry Waters

1938 Map

21st August 2013 Bolton News

New pub plan vows to "give locals their boozer back" (Jeremy Culley)  

A Bolton brewery is vowing to “give locals their pub back” after buying its second establishment in three years. The Brown Cow in Church Street, Horwich, will be renovated and redesigned ahead of a November reopening — when it will be unveiled as the Bank Top Ale House. The new pub will follow in the footsteps of The Tap in Astley Bridge, which has won several CAMRA awards since opening in 2010, as the second real ale haven run by Bank Top Brewery.

Set to open just in time for the Christmas rush, the Bank Top Ale House has already been given the thumbs-up by locals, with owner Dave Sweeney targeting a third pub run by the blossoming brewery within the next year.

“We are very excited and hoping to be open well in time for Christmas,” said Mr Sweeney. “We’ve had enthusiastic responses from passers-by and also had people from Horwich come to The Tap to see what vibe the pub will have."

Mr Sweeney, also joint-owner of Bank Top Estates with business partner Neil Turner, completed the Brown Cow purchase from Punch Taverns last month.

Bank Top currently produces 13 permanent ales, employs 20 staff and turns over £1 million per year, with pub business worth approximately half.

“The Ale House will be a small, traditional, community pub,” said Mr Sweeney. “We won’t have the big screens, games machines and the like that chain pubs have.It will be just be good drinks, background music and a friendly vibe.”

Flat Cap and Dark Mild, Bank Top’s signature ales, will be on tap permanently, while the Ale House will showcase local micro-breweries and the rest of Mr Sweeney’s extensive range in similar fashion to The Tap.

Mr Sweeney said: “More pubs could soon be on the horizon.By this time next year, I am fairly confident we will have bought our third pub.Our plan when we started was always to open four pubs, so we’re halfway there.”