GREAT HARWOOD

PUBLIC HOUSES AFTER 1870

The arrival of the railway loop line in 1877 gave a new impetus to the town
and new mills were built adding more workers and opportunities for brewers.

Royal Hotel

The Royal Hotel, Great Harwood. If you like real ale this is the place.

Daniel Thwaites of Blackburn applied for and was granted a licence for a new hotel which was built in 1879 close to the new railway station on what was to become Station Road.

The railway didn't last a hundred years but the Royal is still there serving a constantly changing variety of real ales to the discerning drinker and in 2002 also began brewing it's own beers.

Merrie England

New houses were being erected for the still increasing population and after the construction of St. Hubert's Road the Merrie England was built in 1888 on the corner of Clayton Street.

The system of tied houses was spreading and Alfred Nuttal of Little Harwood was taking over the pubs of Great Harwood. In 1894 he bought the Plough and the Lomax and the next year the Old Billy, Dog and Otter and Queen's Head. The 1895 purchases seem not to have been good investments as all three were condemned by the licensing magistrates in 1903 but at the same time Nuttall applied for licences to build two new pubs one on Park Road the other in the St. John's area.
Local ministers, leading citizens and the temperance societies objected and a protest meeting was called where the chairman announced

"The people of Great Harwood do not require or ask for new pubs and it is in the
best interest of landlord and brewer that the people of England should be sober".

When the licensing magistrates met it was stated that there were twelve pubs, two beer houses and three off-licences in the town but the opposition said that there were also licensed clubs to add to the numbers. The magistrates pointed out that the ratio of pubs to people was 1 - 700 which compared very favourably with other places and ruled that the new pubs could be built but Nuttall had to surrender the licences for the Queen's, the Old Billy and two off-licences. The Dog and Otter was reprieved and Alfred Nuttall built the last two pubs in Great Harwood.

Park Hotel

The Park also had a bowling green at one time.

Now Scottish and Newcastle (another) and once again this has had the interior walls removed.

Victoria Hotel

At the bottom of St. John Street, across what used to be the railway line the Victoria, or Butcher Brig, is almost "intact".

Cemetery Hotel

Not included in Great Harwood histories as it was just over the the Lidgett Brook in Rishton.

OK it's in Rishton but it's the only Thwaites pub we've got left
However as it is about a mile to Rishton and only a few yards to Great Harwood it has always been regarded as an Arrod pub and this was confirmed when it was brought within the boundary by local government re-organisation. Across the road from THE cemetery it was usually referred to as the Lidgett, the name of the brook and the area, so eventually its name was changed.
Despite facelifts its position on the very edge of town seems to have added to the difficulties faced by other pubs and has now become Harwood's Dining Rooms a licensed restaurant.

Pub Map

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Last updated 11th June 2004
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