The Horse and Groom PH, Baldock Road

Origins

The Icknield Way was an ancient major east-west highway and locally in 1769 it became the Baldock to Royston Turnpike. About 1780 an inn was built on the north side of the Turnpike, situated just under 6 miles from Baldock and 2¾ miles from Royston, it appears to have been the main establishment, between the two towns, offering refreshment and a resting place for those travelling this ancient road. The inn became known as The Thrift or Thrift House and was later given the name Horse & Groom, although for many locals it remained The Thrift. More about the area known as The Thrift is here.

The inn was erected on a plot of land in Litlington, which may have been an ancient enclosure or simply carved out anew from the open field lands. It extended to just 0a 1r 27p, so quite small. On the west it abutted Steeple Morden parish and may have just straddled the boundary. The buildings were on that west side. In the Census and Directories  etc., whether under the name Thrift or Horse & Groom the property location appears in the records under Litlington.

The Litlington Land

The land in the south of Litlington was owned in the late 1600s by the Maryon family and through descent effectively remained in family ownership, although following marriages etc. the owners’ names changed. Around the time the inn was built the owner was Magaretta Maria Willis wife of John Badger Willis, who in 1777 was followed by their daughter Jane, who married Sir Thomas Spenser Wilson. Their son Sir Thomas Maryon Wilson inherited in 1818, but died in 1821, with ownership passing to his son John Maryon Wilson. By this time the whole estate was about 464 acres and in 1832 Wilson sold to Mary Graham-Foster-Pigott and after her death in 1858 she left the estate  to her two daughters, who both died unmarried and after their deaths in 1859 and 1860 it was sold to G E Foster, the Cambridge banker. It is believed that the lessees Simpsons Brewery bought the freehold of the land at this time.

The inn was not built by the land owner, but rather by a lessee, believed to be James Ind, a brewer, living initially in Ashwell and then Baldock. He probably also leased around 13 acres of open field land, which became associated with the inn, the whole being sub-let to an unidentified tenant, who was effectively both a publican and small-holder. It appears the the buildings were extensive and provided accommodation for travellers and stabling for their horses and carriages?

The Ind family are not known to have had any prior involvement with Litlington or Steeple Morden and it is possible it arose via Mary Thorogood, whom James married in 1778 or the Thurley family, who were related through marriage to the Thorogoods. Both families lived in Steeple and Litlington. James Ind died in 1810 and his son James, who inherited, died the following year. Another son Edward took over the brewery business, including the lease of the Litlington property. However, he had a substantial brewery in Romford, which required his attention, so in 1815 he sold the Baldock brewery and its tied estate to John Pryor and when he died in 1819 it passed to his son John Izard Pryor, who ran it for ten years before retiring in 1829 and leasing the business to his sons John & Morris Pryor. John died in 1852 and Morris decided to sell up. The purchasers were John & Thomas George Simpson and “Simpson’s” became the major Baldock brewery, with ownership descending in the family until it was sold to Greene King in 1954. The brewery had been converted to a limited company in 1935 by the sole surviving family partner.

The Steeple Morden Land 

At the time of the Steeple Morden Enclosure Award  in 1817 Edward Ind was allotted a freehold plot of land measuring 1a 3r 9p, in lieu of freehold open field lands. Again it is not known how the Ind family had come by the open field land. The new allotment was adjoining the inn homestead, which obviously made sense. The parish boundary is shown above the plot containing the word Thrift and if it is extended south to the road half the buildings shown in red fall within Steeple Morden, which explains why this plot, which is almost wholly in Litlington is drawn in detail on the Steeple Morden Enclosure map.

The Tithe Map only shows the land within Steeple parish, including that allotted at time of Enclosure. The hatched line is the parish boundary and again it is clear a major portion of the buildings lies in Steeple. Plot 215 is described as part of Thrift PH, even though on the map it is marked Horse & Groom, and the extent is given as only 17p. Plot 214 is Home Close and is arable land extending to 2a 0r 2p. In both cases the owners are given as John and Morris Pryor and the occupant as Sarah Kent. Plot 213 is a cottage and garden on just 38p of land owned by the Earl of Hardwicke and occupied by George Field and this eventually became Thrift Farm

Events including the Great Fire and Tenants

There was great to-do at The Thrift on 4 April 1821 when a local farmer spent some hours drinking at the inn and when he set off for home on his horse, he fell off and suffered fatal injuries. There is more in the newspaper report below or on this specific page about John Finkell

The earliest mention found of the inn named as the Horse & Groom is 1839 in the Steeple Tithe map, although Thrift continued in use along side. At some date in the 19th century a major part of the Litlington land appears to have been given up by the lessees, leaving roughly two acres in each of the parishes. This may have taken place when Mary Graham Foster Pigott’s family sold the main estate to G E Foster in 1860?

On the evening of 2 September 1869 a fire started in a barn close to the road and took hold until all the buildings had been burnt down, including the inn or house itself. The whole establishment had to be rebuilt. The fire turned out to be arson and was set by a certain Pharaoh Morris, who worked and lived at the inn. He had had a minor falling out with his employer Jeremiah Anderson and decided to exact revenge. Details are given in the newspaper reports below. Morris was sent for trial, found guilty and sentenced to 5 years penal servitude. He was a local man having been born in Litlington in 1845 and was also known as Pharez Morris.

There was another fire 25 September 1908, which was considered accidental, consuming a straw stack and barn with contents. The Royston Fire Brigade took down part of a building to create a fire break as there was insufficient water to fight the fire. The tenant was Hubert Ryland. Newspaper reports for both fires are below.

Tenants of the Inn

After death of John Ryland in February 1903 licence transferred to Susan his widow. She in turn transferred to Harry Fenn and then in 1904 he to Hubert Thomas Ryland.

Rowley Son & Royce of Royston Records

27 July 1841 Sale book Growing corn with straw at the Thrift nr Royston for Mrs Sarah Kent £38 15s 10d

8 Oct 1841 Notebook Furniture etc at the Thrift p.h. Therfield [sic] of Mrs Sarah Kent to Jeremiah Anderson pp54-57

30 May 1899 Notebook Effects of Jeremiah Anderson dec’d of the Thrift Royston pp 48-53

1899 Sale Particulars Agricultural implements hay and straw stacks household furniture at The Thrift Royston [Anderson]

The Horse & Groom – its end and future?

The pub closed in 2005 and was put on sale for re-development. Various planning applications have been made over the years and the property became increasingly derelict. Finally, the building was demolished the week commencing 28 October 2024 and a close boarded timber fence erected on the roadside boundary.

Previously, on 21 July 2009 the Findley Duthie Partnership (Stuart Findley and Nicholas Duthie), then owners of the property sold most of  the Steeple Morden land to the adjoining owners Graham Neil Brooks and Pauline Brooks of Thrift Farmhouse. The remaining site was bought by John Connors, Lawrence Connors and Patrick Connors of Codicote on 9 April 2014. On 8 May 2018 they granted an option to UK Property Options Ltd, which managed subsequent planning applications.

History of Changing Plans for the Site

Plans to redevelop the site had come forward since 2006, when an application was submitted to demolish the pub and build a hotel; these plans were refused. A second application to build a hotel on the site was also refused the following year in 2007. In 2009 plans were approved to demolish the pub and build a new restaurant in its place, this permission was also renewed in 2012, but did not end up taking place.

An application to build a 70 bedroom hotel on the site was also submitted in 2012, however this was refused with concerns raised over the size of the proposed building. Two years later plans were submitted to build two homes on the site, one five-bedroom house and one four-bedroom house, but this application was refused.

In 2018 plans were submitted to demolish the pub and build three drive through takeaway restaurants. Permission for this was approved by the District Council but lapsed when no development took place within three years of the authority granting permission. In 2019 another application was submitted to replace the pub with a petrol station, this was also approved but not progressed.

Then in 2021, the district council refused plans to build a self-storage site. The applicant appealed to the planning inspectorate against the decision, but lost with the planning inspector describing the proposed building as potentially being an “overwhelmingly stark and dominating building”.

List of Planning Applications

All applications envisage demolition of existing PH building.

Cambridge News Report 30 January 2023

Untouchable ex-Royston pub could become drive-thru restaurants

New plans have been submitted to demolish the former Horse and Groom pub near Royston and build three drive through restaurants.

Plans to demolish a derelict pub near Royston and build new drive-through restaurants in its place have been revived – five years after similar plans were approved. A new application has been submitted to South Cambridgeshire District Council to build three drive through takeaway restaurants on the site of the former Horse and Groom pub, in Baldock Road.

The former pub has sat empty for a number of years as various planning applications came forward to redevelop the site. While an application for three takeaway restaurants was approved previously, the plans were never enacted upon, and the permission lapsed.

The new applicant, Westcoast Convenience Limited, has submitted the latest plans in the hope to bring the site back into use. Of the three proposed drive through takeaways, one is proposed to be a coffee shop, with the other two listed as restaurants. The plans do not state what companies might run the takeaways if the application is approved.

Improvements are also proposed to be made to the access from the A505, and a picnic area is also included in the plans, along with 50 car parking spaces. Planning documents submitted as part of the application said the proposal would “make more efficient use” of the land, and said: “The proposal presents a sustainable form of development, contribution to the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of the area.”

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