The Horse Shoes

Under the 1818 Enclosure Award Charles Dye was granted a piece of vacant Common Land between Low Road and the river, stretching from Jasmine Cottage to Grange Meadow, and it was probably he who built a house on top of the hill for his wife and young family. As he died in 1820 it therefore seems safe to say that the house was built between 1818 and 1820. The Tithe Apportionment Award records that by 1840 Samuel Dye, having inherited it from his father, had let the property to James Avis, but whether as a house or a pub is unknown, although the 1841 Census refers to Mr Avis as an agricultural labourer. However by 1845 White's Norfolk Directory records Samuel Dye as being both a wheelwright and a victualler i.e. a publican, and his premises as The Horse Shoes, so we know the property was being used as a pub from then onwards.

Samuel Dye's wife, Mary, was said to have been "an ardent Baptist lady", which is perhaps why he gave up the running of The Horse Shoes, whilst continuing with his wheelwright's business next door, and leased the pub to Cann & Co. who had a brewery business in Wymondham. Their tenant from 1850 to 1865 was Samuel Baxter, who as well as being a publican also ran a butchery business from the property. When Samuel Dye died in 1866 the property was put up for sale by auction and was described as "All that building of brick and tile comprising 5 sleeping rooms, 5 rooms on the ground floor and excellent cellar, slaughterhouse, stable, gig house, and other convenient buildings with about two acres of orchard and arable land in the occupation of Cann & Co. or their under-tenant in which an excellent trade in beer and spirits has been carried on for many years." The property was sold to Mr Alexander Francis Campbell who was a major landowner/investor in the parish but lived in Great Plumstead.

From 1866 until The Horse Shoes closed in 1966 there were only 5 recorded publicans, Ephraim Littlewood until 1872, William Dann to 1904, Charles and Clara Baker until 1934, Charles Hales with his wife, Audrey to 1940 and finally Sydney and Elsie Byford, showing an unusual degree of stability at the heart of the village. During the Second World War the brewing of beer was rationed and the pub was only open Friday night, Saturday and also Sunday night (unless the week's beer had all been drunk by then). That often happened as soldiers were stationed at Tasburgh Hall in the early years of the war and later, after American airmen arrived at Hethel airfield in 1943, a week's beer could disappear in an evening, although the Byfords would try to keep a barrel back for village regulars. They would have to go round to the back door for a secret pint in the cellar. One regular, Mr Crowe from Cottage Farm on Low Road, was known for being able to down a pint quicker than most and would often earn a shilling or two from any unwary American who challenged him to a speed-drinking contest.

Cann & Co. had been taken over by Norwich brewers Morgans in 1894 but whether they took over the beer supply to The Horse Shoes isn't clear. What is known is that the owner of the pub, Mr Campbell, died in 1882 and at some point, possibly then, The Horse Shoes was acquired by the largest of the Norwich breweries, Steward and Patteson. At a meeting in 1962 between Bullards and Steward and Patteson to discuss the future of their pubs following their joint purchase of Morgans' brewery company, it was agreed that The Bird in Hand owned by Bullards should be kept open, but The Horse Shoes should be allowed to close, as its beer sales had fallen to 41 barrels a year. By 1966, when The Horse Shoes finally closed, only 8 barrels were consumed that year. Mr and Mrs Byford were allowed to remain in the property, Mr Byford dying in 1970 and Mrs Byford in 1974. By then Steward and Patteson had been taken over by Watney Mann who sold the property as a private residence although externally the front of the property has hardly changed since the photo was taken in 1897. The bar was to the right of the front door and included the single story extension with its own door. The room to the left of the front door was referred to as The Smoke, presumably the preserve of pipe smokers as most people in the pub would have smoked cigarettes during the War.