Royal Oak Tea Gardens at Brandon

 

Rowing at the Brandon Tea Gardens

Warwickshire County Record Office reference B Wol Cha (P) Cp19 photo 15

WCRO B Wol Cha (P) Cp19 photo 15

 

Royal Oak Tea Gardens Brandon

Warwickshire County Record Office reference B Wol Cha (P) Cp19 photo 17

In 1911 Mr Fitter, the publican at the Royal Oak, found a great demand for teas on Easter Monday. He got permission from the local landowner, Colonel Beech, to use a stretch of the river Avon for swimming and boating. By May, Mr Fitter had built a landing stage and was planning a pavilion and garden to provide refreshments ‘in a sheltered and pleasant little nook on the banks of the Avon’. ¹ Two months later an advertisement appeared in the Rugby Advertiser:

THE ROYAL OAK, BRANDON. In connection with this well-known House a PAVILLION with TEA GARDENS have been constructed for the convenience of visitors. Facilities are also being arranged for SWIMMING and BATHING in the Early Morning throughout the Summer. HOT COFFEE and BREAKFASTS will also be supplied. ²

Initial problems

All did not run smoothly, because Mr Fitter had not obtained planning permission from Rugby Rural District Council for the building. When a plan was submitted, it showed the roof was not fireproof and there were concerns about the drainage. Mr Fitter attended a meeting and said he knew nothing about the bye laws! However, an amended plan seems to have reassured the council and the building was approved. ³

Photos show a one-storey building with ROYAL OAK TEA GARDEN in large letters on the side and  a boat being rowed by Mr Fitter with his wife Edith on the river under the nearby railway viaduct. ⁴

History of the Royal Oak

This inn at Brandon was established by Sarah Cave in 1837, and taken over by her son John Cave in the 1840s when he became of age. The brewery side of the business thrived and in 1901 Leonard Walton, John’s son in law, moved to the pub.  John Cave passed away in 1904 and Leonard in 1908; John’s other son in law, James Fitter (who had married Edith Cave) took over and became very proactive in promoting the business: he instigated the tea-room project. However, both James and Edith had passed away by the end of 1912.

Kelly’s trade directories show the ‘Peoples Refreshment House Association Ltd’ in Brandon with Henry Leech as manager in 1921; he was succeeded by the splendidly-named Archibald Horace Crisp in 1924 and 1928. ⁵ There is no entry for 1932 so it seems likely that the tea garden had ceased to operate by then. We are glad to report the Royal Oak still survives today as a public house, and has overcome a series of floods recently (one causing it to shut for four months); as a result it has installed flood gates.

This article is based on Jeff Chatwin’s Brandon, Bretford & Wolston 1911 Before The Great War. Warwickshire County Record Office reference B Wol Cha (P), Cp14 Pubs and Clubs.

¹ Rugby Advertiser, 5^th May 1911.

² Rugby Advertiser, 1^st July 1911.

³ Ibid.

⁴ Chatwin, J. ‘Brandon Bretford & Wolston 1911’, Cp20 Pictures of Brandon, Bretford & Wolston, postcards 15, 17 &18.

⁵ Kelly’s Directory of the county of Warwick, 1921 p. 326, 1924 p. 349, 1928 p. 340.