Last orders sound for village’s historic pubs

With the news that Sturry’s last surviving pub has closed, we look at the history of the village’s inns...

It’s sadly the end of the line for the Middle of the Road pub. As reported in last week’s Gazette, it is set to be turned into a Turkish restaurant. The Grade Ii-listed timber-framed building dates back to the 17th century. It is thought to have become the Welsh Harp in 1866 - a name it kept until 2014.

It is the latest - and last - pub in Sturry to close.

The village was once also home to the Swan, the Sportsman, the Red Lion, the Rose, and the Leopard’s Head.

The Swan, in the centre of the village, shut its doors in 2011.

Canterbury City Council is still mulling over plans put forward earlier this year by the King’s School to restore the alehouse to its former glory, while also opening a B&B on the site.

The Red Lion was located in High Street and can be traced back to 1778.

It is believed to have been demolished around 1920 and replaced by a new Red Lion. However, a German bomb landed just outside the pub in November 1941, destroying much of the street.

An application was apparently made again in 1945 to get the pub reopened, but was refused by the magistrates. The site is now occupied by houses.

A house also sits on the site of the former Rose pub in High Street. It dated back to 1867 and was still serving pints 100 years later.

The landlord of the Rose from 1901 to 1928, Charlie Burton, was also Sturry Fire Brigade’s First Engineer. He used to summon the volunteer crew to man the tender, in order to deal with incidents, by firing rocket maroons from the pub’s garden.

The Leopard’s Head in Mill Road dated back to 1769. Situated right next to the River Stour, it was hit by

flooding in 1909. The former pub now appears to be a house and is located next to a Mercedes dealership.

The Sportsman was located on the corner of High Street and Church Lane. It is believed to have closed in 1910.

■ Pictures and information used with kind permission of Paul Skelton, of dover-kent.com.

Picture: Rory Kehoe Outside the Red Lion in High Street in 1914, a dismounted troop of the Queen’s Own West Kent Yeomanry

Picture: Rory Kehoe The Welsh Harp in 1982; it was turned into the Middle of the Road and was Sturry’s last surviving pub

Picture: Rory Kehoe Sturry Fire Brigade outside the Rose in High Street in 1927

Picture: Rory Kehoe Flooding at The Leopard’s Head in Mill Lane in 1909

Picture: Rory Kehoe The Swan Inn, Sturry, circa 1980