Tarleton - Legh Arms

Name: The Legh Arms

Address: Mere Brow, Tarleton

The Legh arms started life as the Horse Shoe Inn as shown on the 1845 map below and was the home of Richard Molyneux and his family. Richard was the local blacksmith so the original name of the beer house is not surprisingly linked to his main business. Sometime in the mid-late 1840s the building we know today was built adjacent to the Smithy and by the 1851 census had been renamed the Legh Arms. Richard Molyneux was still there but is recorded on the census as a farmer of 24 acres and it is his wife Alice who is recorded as the Innkeeper. 

At this time Sir Thomas George Hesketh of Rufford Hall and George Anthony Legh Reek Esq. of Bank Hall in Bretherton were the joint lords of the manor, and proprietors of the parish hence the renaming of the Inn. A court leet is held in Tarleton annually by the joint lords, at the Ram's Head and Cock and Bottle inns alternately.  

1841 Census Richard Molyneux

Listed landlords at the Leg Arms Inn were Richard Molyneux (-1854), William and Margaret Woodcock (1858-75), William Taylor (1877-79), Alice Taylor (1877-80), Peter Wright (1880-90), Alice Wright (1890-1911), William Lea (1917), Mr C Blakemore (1955-) and Geoff & Lilian Aikin (1972 to 1979).

1845 Map

1851 Census Richard Molyneux

02 July 1853 - Preston Chronicle

FOUND - A yellow and white Spaniel. The owner may have it by paying expenses, on application to Mr. Richard Molyneux, Legh Arms, Mere Brow, Tarleton. If not claimed in ten days it will be sold. Mere Brow, June 28th, 1853. 

26 August 1854 - Preston Chronicle

On Wednesday last, the members of the Holmes (Tarleton) Cow Club, assembled at Mr. Rd. Molyneux's, the Legh Arms Inn, Mere Brow, Tarleton, for the purpose of presenting a testimonial of their esteem to Mr. Richard Thornton, of Croston. 

An excerpt from the Mannex Directory of 1854
The parish of Tarleton is not divided into townships but is separated for parochial purposes into the three divisions of Tarleton, Sollom, and Holmes. Tarleton is a large and respectable village, pleasantly situated on a branch of the Leeds and Liverpool canal, and near the western branch of the Douglas, 9 miles S.W. from Preston and Sollom is another good village, 10 miles S.W. of the same town. The Holmes is a district of dispersed dwellings, except the hamlet of Mere Brow, where a good inn has just been erected. There is also an excellent inn between Tarleton and Sollom, on the Preston and Liverpool road, and another in the village of Tarleton. A fair for pedlery is held here annually on the 23rd and 24th of April, under a charter granted by King William Ill., to Thomas Fleetwood, Esq. of Bankhall, of the date of the 22nd of March,1700, and appointed to be held upon the site of Martin Mere with Tarleton. A further charter for two other fairs, to be held yearly on the 23rd of September and the 23rd of October, was granted by the same monarch, to Mr. Fleetwood, but these have not been held for several years. An old custom of electing a "mayor" yearly is still practised in this parish.

1845 Mannex Directory - Richard Molyneux

Marriage: 30 May 1855 St Mary, Tarleton, Lancashire, England

Thomas Harrison - 30 Gentleman Bachelor of Tarleton 

Alice Molyneaux - 28 Spinster of Mere Brow In Tarleton 

    Groom's Father: John Harrison, Malster

    Bride's Father: Richard Molyneaux, InnKeeper

    Witness: Richard Livesey; Alice Livesey

    Married by Licence by: John Nicklin Offs. Minister

    Register: Marriages1837 - 1881, Page 101, Entry 201

    Source: LDS Film 1278941

Between 1854 and 1858 the Inn changed hands and was taken over by William and Margaret Woodcock.

1858 Post Office Directory Margaret Woodcock

1861 Census Margaret Woodcock

1869 Slater's Directory - Margaret Woodcock

1871 Census Margaret Woodcock

Margaret Woodcock died in 1875 and William Taylor and his wife Alice then took over behind the bar. 

Baptism: 22 Jul 1877 St Mary, Tarleton, Lancashire, England

Mary Taylor - [Child] of William Taylor & Alice

    Abode: Mere Brow Tarleton

    Occupation: Inn Keeper

    Notes: [Baptised] at the Holmes School

    Baptised by: Robert C. Fletcher Rector

    Register: Baptisms 1839 - 1888, Page 246, Entry 1964

    Source: LDS Film 1278941

William died a couple of years later in 1879 and Alice remarried in 1880 to a Peter Wright and together they ran the business together until Peter died in 1890.

Marriage: 24 Nov 1880 St Mary, Tarleton, Lancashire, England

Peter Wright - 34 Labourer Widower of Holmes 

Alice Taylor - 40 Inn Keeper Widow of Mere Brow In Tarleton 

    Groom's Father: James Wright, Farmer

    Bride's Father: Philip Ashcroft, Farmer

    Witness: Robert Barron; Jane Barron

    Married by Licence by: Robert C. Fletcher Curate

    Notes: Surname of father and daughter different

    Register: Marriages 1837 - 1881, Page 248, Entry 495

    Source: LDS Film 1278941

1881 Census Peter Wright

Baptism: 4 Mar 1883 St Mary, Tarleton, Lancashire, England

Thomas Wright - [Child] of Peter Wright & Alice

    Abode: Mere Brow Occupation: Publican

    Notes: A twin see No. 2233 [entered in the margin] [Baptised] in Holmes School

    Baptised by: Robert C. Fletcher Rector

    Register: Baptisms 1839 - 1888, Page 279, Entry 2232

    Source: LDS Film 1278941

Baptism: 4 Mar 1883 St Mary, Tarleton, Lancashire, England

James Wright - [Child] of Peter Wright & Alice

    Abode: Mere Brow Occupation: Publican

    Notes: A twin see No. 2232 [entered in the margin] [Baptised] in Holmes School

    Baptised by: Robert C. Fletcher Rector

    Register: Baptisms 1839 - 1888, Page 280, Entry 2233

    Source: LDS Film 1278941

1891 Census Alice Wright

Marriage: 23 Dec 1891 Holy Trinity, Tarleton, Lancashire, England

James Taylor - 24 Farmer Bachelor of Mere Brow In Tarleton 

Ellen Taylor - 24 Spinster of Mere Brow In Tarleton 

    Groom's Father: John Taylor, Deceased, Farmer

    Bride's Father: William Taylor, Deceased, Inn Keeper

    Witness: Philip Taylor; Mary Wright

    Married by Licence by: Robert C Fletcher Rector

    Register: Marriages 1881 - 1909, Page 52, Entry 104

    Source: LDS Film 1849640

1893 Map

1901 Census Alice Wright

1908 Map

1911 Census Alice Wright

1938 Map

31 August 1955 - Lancashire Evening Post

A Ministry of Housing and Local Government inquiry at Ormskirk heard that Mr. C. Blakemore of Legh Arms Hotel. Mere Brow Tarleton wanted to accommodate caravans on a site at Tabby Nook adjoining his hotel.