Globe Inn, Woodbury
Globe Hill Gill Selley
Newcomers to Woodbury may not be aware of the reason that the road which leads from Broadway out of Woodbury toward Exeter is called Globe Hill. The answer is that on the left hand side of the road, at the crossroads, once stood an inn known as The Globe. Sadly the inn, which was run by an appropriately named landlord, Ernest Beer, was burnt to the ground in 1916. Luckily many documents have survived which enable one to compile a brief history of the inn. The house was built after 1650 as it does not appear in the list of properties of the Rolle Estate of that date. The first mention of it is in 1714 in the Quarter Sessions papers when Robert Cooke, inn-holder of Woodbury, was examined before the Justices of the Peace on a charge of a felony. He appears to have been innocent as there is no mention of any punishment. Five years later though, he and his wife, Elizabeth, were charged with keeping a disorderly alehouse and disturbing the peace of Woodbury. Not unusual at this time when an evening in the local inn was the only entertainment for parishioners.
The survey of the Manor of Woodbury in 1729 shows that Robert was living at the inn which was described as ‘a cottage at Okeys Cross’ – this was valued at £1 and he paid the rent of 1s 6d. This did not include the field behind the cottage as this was part of Cooks Venmore Farm. This area of the crossroads was normally called Okeys Cross and presumably was an area covered in oak trees – the road was probably known as Okeys Lane, which is why the Reverend Filmer when he built his mansion house named it Oakfield, later changed to Oakhays.
In 1731 Robert was once more in trouble with the magistrates and again accused of keeping a disorderly ale house. The indictment named drinkers, swearers, tipplers and games players - the illicit games they played were recorded as cards, dice and ‘Keales’ (a sort of skittles or ninepins) and ‘Charlie Pitcher’; also card sharping games such ‘seven or over seven’, ‘red, black, leather and star’ or inveigling the unwary with ‘three little thimbles and one small pea’. This gives quite an insight into what went on in the alehouses apart from drinking. Seven years later the house was reported to the steward of the Lord of the Manor as being in need of repair – not surprising with all the activities going on! Robert Cook died in 1760 and was followed by a succession of lessees of the cottage, not all of whom were the licensees. It was the individual who held the licence to sell beers and spirits, and these were applied for at the Devon Quarter Sessions, so there is a record of who these men were. The house was known as an inn, but it was leased as a cottage, not an inn, by the Rolle Estate.
By the 19th century the Globe and the White Hart were the two rival inns in the village – there were two other cottages occupied by beer sellers (evidently a full licence was not required for the sale of beer only), and the Maltsters was still a malt house until the latter part of the century when it became a brewery too (as was the White Hart). As the population of the village increased and its social habits changed the two inns extended their premises to include large dining rooms and skittle alleys. Dr Brent, who had a finger in every pie in Woodbury, was the treasurer of the Clyst Valley Agricultural Society and after the annual ploughing match the farmers would meet for a grand meal and entertainment usually at the Globe.
Not only were the farming community entertained at the inn, but Brent also arranged political and military dinners there. From 1850 the local newspapers regularly described these celebrations. In 1860 the Ploughing Match Dinner was held in the skittle alley at the Globe – the description of the room decorated with ‘evergreens and flowers woven into various ingenious and interesting devices, concealed the rough aspect of the building, and a festoon of very large turnips hung in front of the chairman, together with the head of a South American sheep (whose valuable life had just been extinguished by its owner, Dr Brent), placed over the head of the President, Sir Lawrence Palk MP, seemed to exhibit with appropriate effect the agricultural character of the festive occasion.’ The company sat down to eat at 3 pm. Dr Brent usually invited a leading political figure to attend the dinner.
The most interesting change for the Globe was in 1859 when the county of Devon was divided into 22 divisions for the Petty Sessions. Woodbury was chosen as the place where the surrounding villages would be brought before the magistrates, and it was ordered that a Petty Sessions Room should be provided. The room chosen was in the Globe Inn. Fortunately Devon County negotiated with the owner of a strip of land on Globe Hill to purchase it in order to build a Court House. An architect from Bicton was chosen to design the courthouse and a builder from Exeter was engaged to carry out the work. The Court House was used for the first time on 10th June, and so the Globe was free to return to its normal routine. Dr Brent was again a supporter of the Globe when he founded the Woodbury RA Volunteer Corps in 1859. After various military exercises or celebrations the doctor (Captain Brent) would preside over a dinner held in the skittle alley at the Globe. The possible reason that Dr Brent supported the Globe, rather than the White Hart, was because the landlord (John Searle Lindsey) was one of his sergeants in the Volunteers as well as being a freemason and supporter of a ‘free church’ in Woodbury – Brent was the man who was responsible for the building of Christ Church in 1851, and in 1870 for the building of Brent Masonic Lodge in Topsham.
Newcomers to Woodbury may not be aware of the reason that the road which leads from Broadway out of Woodbury toward Exeter is called Globe Hill. The answer is that on the left hand side of the road, at the crossroads, once stood an inn known as The Globe. Sadly the inn, which was run by an appropriately named landlord, Ernest Beer, was burnt to the ground in 1916. Luckily many documents have survived which enable one to compile a brief history of the inn. The house was built after 1650 as it does not appear in the list of properties of the Rolle Estate of that date. The first mention of it is in 1714 in the Quarter Sessions papers when Robert Cooke, inn-holder of Woodbury, was examined before the Justices of the Peace on a charge of a felony. He appears to have been innocent as there is no mention of any punishment. Five years later though, he and his wife, Elizabeth, were charged with keeping a disorderly alehouse and disturbing the peace of Woodbury. Not unusual at this time when an evening in the local inn was the only entertainment for parishioners.
The survey of the Manor of Woodbury in 1729 shows that Robert was living at the inn which was described as ‘a cottage at Okeys Cross’ – this was valued at £1 and he paid the rent of 1s 6d. This did not include the field behind the cottage as this was part of Cooks Venmore Farm. This area of the crossroads was normally called Okeys Cross and presumably was an area covered in oak trees – the road was probably known as Okeys Lane, which is why the Reverend Filmer when he built his mansion house named it Oakfield, later changed to Oakhays.
In 1731 Robert was once more in trouble with the magistrates and again accused of keeping a disorderly ale house. The indictment named drinkers, swearers, tipplers and games players - the illicit games they played were recorded as cards, dice and ‘Keales’ (a sort of skittles or ninepins) and ‘Charlie Pitcher’; also card sharping games such ‘seven or over seven’, ‘red, black, leather and star’ or inveigling the unwary with ‘three little thimbles and one small pea’. This gives quite an insight into what went on in the alehouses apart from drinking. Seven years later the house was reported to the steward of the Lord of the Manor as being in need of repair – not surprising with all the activities going on! Robert Cook died in 1760 and was followed by a succession of lessees of the cottage, not all of whom were the licensees. It was the individual who held the licence to sell beers and spirits, and these were applied for at the Devon Quarter Sessions, so there is a record of who these men were. The house was known as an inn, but it was leased as a cottage, not an inn, by the Rolle Estate.
By the 19th century the Globe and the White Hart were the two rival inns in the village – there were two other cottages occupied by beer sellers (evidently a full licence was not required for the sale of beer only), and the Maltsters was still a malt house until the latter part of the century when it became a brewery too (as was the White Hart). As the population of the village increased and its social habits changed the two inns extended their premises to include large dining rooms and skittle alleys. Dr Brent, who had a finger in every pie in Woodbury, was the treasurer of the Clyst Valley Agricultural Society and after the annual ploughing match the farmers would meet for a grand meal and entertainment usually at the Globe.
Not only were the farming community entertained at the inn, but Brent also arranged political and military dinners there. From 1850 the local newspapers regularly described these celebrations. In 1860 the Ploughing Match Dinner was held in the skittle alley at the Globe – the description of the room decorated with ‘evergreens and flowers woven into various ingenious and interesting devices, concealed the rough aspect of the building, and a festoon of very large turnips hung in front of the chairman, together with the head of a South American sheep (whose valuable life had just been extinguished by its owner, Dr Brent), placed over the head of the President, Sir Lawrence Palk MP, seemed to exhibit with appropriate effect the agricultural character of the festive occasion.’ The company sat down to eat at 3 pm. Dr Brent usually invited a leading political figure to attend the dinner.
The most interesting change for the Globe was in 1859 when the county of Devon was divided into 22 divisions for the Petty Sessions. Woodbury was chosen as the place where the surrounding villages would be brought before the magistrates, and it was ordered that a Petty Sessions Room should be provided. The room chosen was in the Globe Inn. Fortunately Devon County negotiated with the owner of a strip of land on Globe Hill to purchase it in order to build a Court House. An architect from Bicton was chosen to design the courthouse and a builder from Exeter was engaged to carry out the work. The Court House was used for the first time on 10th June, and so the Globe was free to return to its normal routine. Dr Brent was again a supporter of the Globe when he founded the Woodbury RA Volunteer Corps in 1859. After various military exercises or celebrations the doctor (Captain Brent) would preside over a dinner held in the skittle alley at the Globe. The possible reason that Dr Brent supported the Globe, rather than the White Hart, was because the landlord (John Searle Lindsey) was one of his sergeants in the Volunteers as well as being a freemason and supporter of a ‘free church’ in Woodbury – Brent was the man who was responsible for the building of Christ Church in 1851, and in 1870 for the building of Brent Masonic Lodge in Topsham.
The bill above was for the dinner to celebrate the marriage of Roger’s grandparents in 1905 at the Globe, whilst it was still a very popular and busy inn.
(With thanks to Roger Stokes for the two pictures of the Globe and the bill)
(With thanks to Roger Stokes for the two pictures of the Globe and the bill)
A tale from a little later in the Inn's life.
A lawless love. Between 1893 and 1903 Susan Cockwell (wife of John Down Cockwell, Constable) of Lapford's daughters Annie and Louisa each had two sons. Nothing unusual, except records show the four boys shared the same father. Annie had married Geordie, George Shell, and they were running the Globe Inn at Woodbury when Annie died, aged 32. Sister, Louisa moved in to look after her young nephews but quickly fell in love with her sister’s widower. The law at the time prevented George and Louisa from marrying but she adopted George’s surname for the rest of her life.
Tragically, George died when Louisa was just 29 leaving her with four young children and a pub to manage. The law that would have allowed her to marry George was changed just three years after his death.
The Globe Inn was a local landmark on the Exeter to Budleigh Salterton Road at the top of Globe Hill. Louisa ran the inn until 1911 when she returned to mid-Devon to work as a housekeeper in Penstone, a hamlet 5.5miles SE of Lapford. She later worked as a housekeeper in Belstone, on the edge of Dartmoor, and died there at Moorland South Cottage, aged 64.
A lawless love. Between 1893 and 1903 Susan Cockwell (wife of John Down Cockwell, Constable) of Lapford's daughters Annie and Louisa each had two sons. Nothing unusual, except records show the four boys shared the same father. Annie had married Geordie, George Shell, and they were running the Globe Inn at Woodbury when Annie died, aged 32. Sister, Louisa moved in to look after her young nephews but quickly fell in love with her sister’s widower. The law at the time prevented George and Louisa from marrying but she adopted George’s surname for the rest of her life.
Tragically, George died when Louisa was just 29 leaving her with four young children and a pub to manage. The law that would have allowed her to marry George was changed just three years after his death.
The Globe Inn was a local landmark on the Exeter to Budleigh Salterton Road at the top of Globe Hill. Louisa ran the inn until 1911 when she returned to mid-Devon to work as a housekeeper in Penstone, a hamlet 5.5miles SE of Lapford. She later worked as a housekeeper in Belstone, on the edge of Dartmoor, and died there at Moorland South Cottage, aged 64.