Name: The Waggon & Horses
Address: Shevington Nook, Shevington
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| Shevington Nook 1845 |
The Waggon & Horses was located on the tram road just off Miles Lane between Shevington and Appley Bridge, an area previously known as Shevington Nook. It was originally the home of the Turner family and opened in the early 1840s as a free house and remained so as a viable business until the early 1900s. The first landlady was Betty Turner who may well have started the business after the death of her husband George in the early 1840s who had been a labourer.
These days, what's left of the old tram road is called "The Nook". Most census records just confirm the location as a beer house either in the name or by the occupation of the head of the family and it was only on the 1871 census that the name Waggon & Horses was recorded.
Listed landlords at the beer house were Betty Turner (-1861), John Leigh (1871-73), Jane Leigh (1873), Charles Collier (1881), John Robinson (1890-91) and William Atherton (1900-07).
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| 1851 Census |
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| Preston Chronicle 23rd April 1853 |
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| 1861 Census |
In 1861 John Leigh was working as a coal miner living on Cinnamon Lane in Shevington with his wife Jane. Originally from Upholland he had moved nearer home to the Waggon & Horses by the time of the following census below.
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| 1871 Census |
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| John Leigh Probate 1873 |
After John's death in 1873 his widow Jane continued to run the business for a short period prior to it's sale and in 1881 was still living close by in Shevington Nook by which time Charles Collier had taken over the business.
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| Wigan Observer and District Advertiser - Saturday 18 October 1873 |
The following article provides further insight into the reason of the sale due to the owner, George Turner's mental health.
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| Wigan Observer and District Advertiser 05 July 1873 |
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| 1881 Census |
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| Wigan Observer and District Advertiser 25 April 1883 |
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| Wigan Observer 25th January 1890 |
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| 1891 Census |
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| Wigan Observer and District Advertiser 15 September 1900 |
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| 1901 Census |
William Atherton's wife Alice died around 1907/8 and four years later he was to be found living on Back Lane, Appley Bridge with the children, working as Brickmaker.
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| Northern Daily Telegraph 28 May 1909 |
The Waggon and Horses was to fall victim to the 1904 Licensing Act. Supported by a surge in the Temperance movement the Act introduced a national scheme where Licensing Magistrates could refuse to renew a pub’s licence if it was considered there were too many pubs in an area or they were not of sufficient quality as was the case above. Confirmation of the refusal and compensation awarded was only a matter of weeks away...
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| Northern Daily Telegraph 20 July 1909 |
This marked the end a beer house at Shevington Nook although the building itself may well still be standing at the end of the Nook.
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| Shevington Nook 1907 |
My home is in the Nook and I was born in Back Lane, being a small place, it's surprising what I believe in the past Nook had much history like the Waggon & Horses also the Coal Industry the had been a railway line running down from Shevington Collieries to the canal which went though the Nook and the was a workshop/blacksmiths at the end of the Nook for maintenance of the rail waggons.
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