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The Old Hoss public house

The Old Hoss public house
Image reproduced with kind permission of The Regency Society and The James Gray Collection

Origin of the name

The name of the “Old Hoss” was most likely derived from a popular song of the time entitled “Off to Brighton”, by Charles Blamphin about a ride in a horse-waggon. The song contains the lines, “Oh my, you ought to see us going, 2:40 in the dust, the Old Hoss a-blowing”.  The building was erected around 1855-6 and first used as the premises of Daniel White, a Baker and Fruit-seller.

Do you remember this pub? Please share your memories by posting a comment below

Demolished in 1960

By around 1865 it had become a grocer’s and within another couple of years had been converted into a beer-house by Charles Marshall, who probably gave it the name. Originally the address of the building was 4, Montpelier Road North, but the road was renamed to New England Road around 1871. The building was altered in 1928 and the final “last orders” were  called in 1960, after which the pub was demolished.

 

Comments about this page

  • Isn’t that the Fire Station in the fore ground?

    By Marilyn Jones (17/12/2014)
  • Yes, Marilyn, that is the Fire Station and the Preston Circus junction in front of it, when it was still a roundabout. The Old Hoss was on the corner of New England Road and Elder Place. The Lloyds TSB building is now there. Regards

    By Alan Hobden (18/12/2014)
  • I have been looking for this pub. In the end good old Google found it. My grandmother ran The Old Hoss with her second husband, Bob Pomfrey. I will have to find out when she left. I still remember the smell.

    By Linda Chapman (21/10/2015)
  • I remember the landlady of the Old Hoss in the late 50s: her name was Primrose.

    By Carol Marten (16/11/2017)
  • I was born in my Grandmother’s house in Elder Street right opposite the Old Hoss in 1937.
    As a child I remember taking a jug across the road to be filled with stout!

    By Joy (26/09/2019)
  • Hi Jane, I was born in 20 Elder Street, 1945. My Dad, Charlie and mother Jessica would often go to this pub and I would stand outside and wait for a treat.

    By Alan Cribb (17/01/2020)
  • My gg grandmother Catherine Harris was the Inn Keeper at the Old Hoss Pub in 1871. Cheers.

    By Graham Finley (22/05/2020)
  • My great-grand-uncle William Saunders Medlock was landlord of The Old Hoss in 1911.

    By Max Wurr (06/04/2021)

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