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SHOPS & PUBLIC HOUSES

Records show that by 1911 there were at least two grocers’ shops, three bakers’ shops, a butcher's shop and five inns, ale houses or public houses.

There was a grocer’s shop was on the corner of Middle Turn (now Brixworth  Road) and High Street.  In 1901 we know it was owned by Eli James but by 1911 was run by Lottie Hobley.  Several other proprietors followed, including Mr Howlett, Mr & Mrs Partridge, Mr & Mrs Cory and Mr & Mrs Bryant before it closed in 1984. It re-opened later that year as a hairdresser’s, owned by Dawn Mallard.  This business continues today.

There was also a general grocer’s store further down the Brixworth Road on the corner of School Lane.  In 1911 this was owned by John Richardson and then, after the First World War, by his son Percy.  It also became the Post Office and was later renamed The Post Office Stores.  It passed to Mr S Gibbs, Pauline Bending and then Alan Wiseman before closing in 2000 and being converted to a private house.  From 1874 to 1916 the post Office had been run by the Copson family from the Manor House in Church Road.

In 1926 another shop opened on the other side of the Brixworth Road. It was run by Mr E Copson, then Mr Moore, Mr Stead, Lillian Gammage and Peter Chapman. In1948 it was taken over by Mrs Greenwood, who expanded it to a general store and newsagent.  It is now the only general stores in the village.

There was a bakehouse in Manor Road for many years.  It was owned by William Johnson in the 19th century and then taken over by James Muggleton in 1901.  Thomas Harris owned it in the 1920s and it finally closed in 1951. 

A second baker was situated on Middle Turn (now Brixworth Road).  In 1911 it was owned by master baker William Thorley and continued until at least the 1920s.  A third baker and grocer’s shop was owned by Thomas & Ann Turner in Yew Tree Lane near the Brixworth Road. It too closed in the 1920s.  Apart from baking bread, many villagers bought their Sunday dinners to the bakehouses to be cooked as they had no oven at home.

In 1911 the butcher’s shop on Station Road (now Brixworth Road) was owned by Frank Copson.  In 1926 it was bought by Frank Saul and has remained in his family ever since, passing to his sons and daughter and then to his grandson.

There was also a draper’s shop next to the butcher, run in 1911 by Sarah Cooper, and two blacksmiths.  Samuel Blunder owned the smithy in Station Road (now Brixworth Road) and in 1911 employed John Jones.  A second smithy was situated in the High Street, owned by Zachariah Barnett.

The King’s Head, The Chequers, The Rose & Crown and The Fir Tree were all licensed to sell alcohol, together with a beer house.  The King’s Head, on the corner of Manor Road and Brixworth Road, is thought to stand on the site of a medieval hostelry connected with the church.  The present building dates from the 17th century and A Village History lists all the landlords since 1849.  In 1911 it was owned by the Northampton Brewery Company, then by Phipps and then Watney and Mann.  It is now a free house and the only public house in the village.

The Chequers further down Manor Road was once the most popular public house in the village and the building dates back to about 1630. It too was owned first by the Northampton Brewery Company, then by Phipps before closing in 1959.  The landlords are listed in A Village history.

The Rose and Crown (originally the Bricklayers’ Arms) and The Fir Tree were both in Yew Tree Lane.  The Rose and Crown was owned first by Hipwells and then by Phipps, closing in 1922.  The Fir Tree was an ale house and the date stone over the front porch is for 1725.  It was owned by T Manning and Co Ltd and closed in the early 1950s.

The beer seller was in School Road.  It was run from 1841for many years by Mr Kimbell and in 1911 by John Underwood.

Grocer's at corner Brixworth Road and High Street. 1984 (Now a Haidresser)
Mr Gibb's General store & Post Office, 1950
General Stores openend 1926, later taken over by the Greenwoods
Bakehouse in Manor Road, c1930
Bakehouse in Brixworth Road, with the Spratton & Teeton Conservative Club 1977
Saul's of Spratton, 2002
Hector Wykes's salvage company, c1930
Smithy in Brixworth Road, 2011
Charles Wood's taxi service, 1920's
Westaway's Garage, 1991
James Marlow, Manager of the Spratton Co-Op c1880
The Kings Head 1902 and 2007, 105 years later
The Rose and Crown
The Fir Tree Ale House, closed in the 1950's
The Cheauers, 1926 & 2002
   
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