Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Grade II listed building. Main construction periods 1700 to 1799

Monument Types

• SITE (Post Medieval - 1700 AD to 1799 AD)

Full description

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The following text is from the original listed building designation:
1. 944 HIGH STREET (North East Side)
No 15 (Bell Hotel) TR 1457 NE 4/736
II GV
2. C18. 3 storeys and attics painted brick. 2 dormers. Stone coping. Above 2nd floor windows are 2 panelled recesses. 2 sashes with altered glazing. Wrought iron shop sign. Altered shop front.
Nos 11 to 15 (consec) form a group.
Listing NGR: TR1487157878

The Canterbury UAD states that this inn was previously owned by Flints/Whitbread/Fremlin.

The Bell appears to have had several earlier names and one can find mention of this House as The Queen's Head; The White Horse and The Chequers. It was listed as The White Horse in 1837 but as The Bell in 1848.

Rigdens, the brewers, do give the date as 18th century but the actual date is uncertain. It was certainly listed in a Directory in 1803. In 1840 The Kentish gazette reported that the Bell had been sold by Flints (brewers) for £830. The last innkeeper was Mr Pat Pattison. The Bell was a good inn but it closed in 1974.

A building survey carried out in 2009 revealed details of the 17th century timber framework behind the brick façade(1)

English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

Wilmot, E., 1988, Inns of Canterbury (Monograph). SKE29737.

<1> Canterbury Archaeological Trust Ltd, 2009, 15 High Street, Canterbury: historic building recording and analysis (Unpublished document). SKE52522.

Sources and further reading