Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Lost city pub’s very own slice of history
The site of Domino’s Pizza in Military Road was once home to a much-loved Canterbury pub...
The first record of a pub on the corner of Military Road and Old Ruttington Lane dates back to 1850. Back then it had the rather brilliant name of the Donkey’s Chump. However, by 1865 it was listed as the Leopard Inn and by 1889 it had become the Leopard’s Head, as most people in Canterbury will remember it today. In July 1867, a fire broke out at the nearby Ordnance Arms and about 200 men from the barracks were called out to assist. However, the landlady of the Leopard’s Head had much to complain about regarding their conduct. According to newspaper reports from the time, she said a number of soldiers forcibly entered her pub, went down the cellar and drew beer in large quantities. They ransacked “every portion” of the inn and made considerable havoc. She had six bedsteads taken down and smashed and a number of other articles destroyed. A watch went missing, besides several other articles. Meanwhile a man living nearby had a violin stolen - and a soldier was seen running about with it during the fire. She took her complaint to magistrates but they said they were unable to assist.
The original building was a casualty of Second World War bombing raids and the pub was rebuilt and reopened in 1959 by Tomson and Wotton.
In the 1990s the pub was under the ownership of Whitbread but in 2003 temporarily shut. By 2006 the building had been transformed into the Domino’s Pizza takeaway which still occupies the site today.
■ Pictures and information used with kind permission of Paul Skelton, of dover-kent.com.