The Old Bull and Butcher was a public house in Ryton on Dunsmore on the A423 Banbury Road.
The pub first appears in the Victuallers’ Recognizances in 1819, with Joseph Olorenshaw as the publican. By the following year Richard Franklin had taken over and he continued there until at least 1828. (Details of publicans at that time were recorded in the ‘Victuallers’ Recognizances’ which can be consulted on the Warwickshire County Record Office website.) The Wroth Silver breakfast has sometimes been held in the attached conservatory.
Theft of a bath-tub
Recently the building has changed hands regularly, its last incarnation being as an Indian Restaurant whose red brick decoration is not really in keeping with the original style of the building (see the photo). Sadly it is now empty and being vandalised. Last year I saw a cast-iron bath poised half-way out through the upstairs window (presumably the thieves had been disturbed); unfortunately this had vanished again before I got around to taking this photo.
Wartime memories
A man who was evacuated from Coventry as a child during the second World War said it: ‘was an isolated building with no houses nearby, that seemed to cater to a more casual, passing trade though, for a young boy, it had the advantage of having a large lawn where one could run around’. Do any readers have other memories of it in happier days? Or photos of it before the repainting?
Comments
Thanks for that Anne, much appreciated. This used to be a reasonably popular pub given its location until recently. That said, Ryton used to be well endowed with pubs! I remember driving past the Dilke on the A45 countless times as a child. I’ve also been inspired to pop up photos of the Blacksmith’s Arms and Malt Shovel. They really do show how rural Ryton was but a hundred years earlier.
I was also looking at some of the earlier Ordnance Survey maps, and they appear to show the ‘New Bull and Butcher’ further down the road! A certain irony the ‘old’ lasts longer than the ‘new’…
On November the 5th 1966 after getting married in Stretton Parish Church (All Saints) my Wife and I had our Wedding Reception there, I well remember that the back room was closed off and there was a roaring fire and two large brandys on the bar, the Guests many of whom were from Coventry Theatre where we both had worked, went to a bonfire party afterwards, whilst we made our way to Malvern to our hotel who had messed up the booking so spent the night in the staff quarters, (the Mount Pleasant). So good and bad memories PS, we’re still married, we have two children & three Grand children, and now live near Chichester
Great to see an “old” photograph of this pub and shame about its state now. My Great Great Great Grandfather Thomas Kimberley (1825-1903) knew this pub, but I doubt it held fond memories. In May 1858, he, and a friend called Thomas Ringrose (both of Coventry) were both arrested on the suspected murder of a Ryton game-keeper called Owen. The inquest was held in this pub. They were imprisoned in the Gaol at Coventry for about three weeks before being cleared and released – they were out poaching at the wrong place at the wrong time. In the end, a local man (Smith) I think who was known to Owen, was proved guilty of his murder.
I stumbled across this pub being referenced in a thriller by Craig Williams Emms ‘One Heartbeat a Minute’. Hero of the book uses Ryton Woods as a hideout and parks in the car park.
Hmm, the things you learn. Thanks for that, seems an ideal Christmas quiz question!
The Richard Franklin mentioned in this article was my Grandmother’s Paternal Grandfather.
So who owns this wonderful old building now? I’ve driven past and seen such a sad scene.
Hi do you know who owns this now ? It’s so sad I would like to contact the owner with the view to purchase it and possibly restore? However it’s very badly damaged.
Richard Franklin (publican) was my paternal great great great grandfather.
Sadly ‘this wonderful old building’ was sold at auction recently and has now been demolished.
That was quick work to knock it down!
The white houses just next to Meadowlands Fisheries were the other ‘new’ Bull & Butcher. The two pubs were known as Top Bull & Bottom Bull. Bottom Bull was converted into 2 houses in the ’60s.
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