Boycott Arms night

The Boycott Arms stands in the manor of Ludstone, named after Saxon settler Ludi, the Stone; referred to in the Domesday Book 1086,the Inn pre-dated the date stone 1717 above the later ornate entrance. Formally known as the New Inn, indicating that an old name is being restored to use; the sign had changed again by 1850 to the ‘Talbot’ New Inn – an old term for a large hunting dog, favoured by the Earls of Shrewsbury and features on their coat of arms. A wayside inn on the medieval trade route linking Dudley and Wellington; turnpiked in 1762, the Talbot was permitted to remain open as long as a bed was empty, offering basic accommodation, food, homebrewed ale and stabling for the lawful traveller. Charles Lakin was the first recorded landlord in the 1820’s, his son Charles, documented in the 1851 census aged 35, victualler and farmer of 85 acres, employing 3 men; his wife Catherine 34 and nephew Joseph Thompson 5, they had two servants. It would appear that the tenancy of the Talbot New Inn went with land, innkeepers Walter Bentley, George Bentley and Tipton born Edward Hodgkinson, 48, who arrived in 1870, all farmed around 90 acres. A travelling brewer would have been responsible for the Talbot’s ale; brewing as and when necessary. The beer would have been a single style malty mild; heavy, dark, sweet and strong, that varied considerably from brew to brew. The average local gravity was 1060 – the second highest in England. Licensing hours were long, 18 hours a day, 4am to 10pm seven days a week, closed only during Divine Service, Christmas Day and Good Friday, Local magistrates paid an official visit to the Talbot New Inn on 23.07.1896, and were well pleased; Occupier manager was James Smith who had been in possession for 11 years; with 10 rooms upstairs, 5 rooms including clubroom downstairs and stabling for 7 horses. The rateable value was £20,  and the owner Thomas Andrew Wight-Boycott, Rudge Hall. Sign changes are not uncommon: the London Prentice Pattingham became the Pigot; the Greyhound, Worfield, the Davenport, both named after principle landowners, the Talbot New Inn was no exception, changing to the ‘Boycott Arms’ around 1910. Squire Thomas Wight-Boycott sold the remainder of the family estate in 1921, the Boycott Arms Inn passing to Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries. The old New Inn has seen many changes over the centuries, but remains, as originally intended, a social and convivial centre of a community.