48 St John Street

▪ Unlisted building former Duke of Wellington Inn/Hotel

▪ Also known as Devonshire Inn from 1832 until c1850

▪ Rebuilt c1868

▪ Façade fake timbering and additional central gabled roof section probably added 1927

▪ The Wellington closed in 2005

▪ R. A. James’ The Clock Shop since 2007

Number 48 is on the south side of the street towards its eastern end adjacent to Wellington Yard.

The Building

Rebuilt c1868 it is 3 storeys high built of red brick and has a tiled roof. On the second floor there are three 2x2 sash windows withplain lintels and sills. On the first floor there, there is a central 4x2 bay window with 2x2 sash windows with plain lintels and sills on either side. On the ground floor there is a central bay entrance with the Wellington Yard entrance to the right and a doorway and small 2x2 window to the left.

The fake timbering on the façade and the additional central gabled roof section were most likely added in 1927. The original form of the building showing the plain lintels and sills can be seen in the photograph below taken in the 1890s.

The earliest mention of the Duke of Wellington inn is from 1815 which is the year Arthur Wellesley became the Duke of Wellington after his victory over Napolean at the Battle of Waterloo. Although no announcement for a change of name for the inn has been found, it can be deduced to have previously been the Nag’s Head Inn based upon descriptions from “To be sold by auction” advertisements that appeared in 1813, 1819, and 1824 (see below with the descriptive excerpts).

The first mention of the Nag’s Head that has been found dates to 1772. It should be noted that up until 1793 there were two Nag’s Heads in Ashbourne. The other one, also on St John St at what is now number 58, was known as the Upper Nag’s Head.

In 1832, there was another name change for the inn, this time a temporary one. 1832 was the year of the Reform Act which made important and popular changes to the electoral system. Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, who had become the Prime Minister 1828-30 (and briefly again in 1834), was against the Reform Act and as a result had become somewhat unpopular. It was reported that the landlord of the Wellington in 1832, John Albrighton, in response to a request from his customers, changed the name of the inn to the Duke of Devonshire. By around 1850, the Duke of Wellington appears to have regained his popularity in Ashbourne because the inn reverted to being called the Wellington although the Devonshire continued to be occasionally mentioned.

The inn was a venue for auctions and for stallions to cover/serve mares (available for stud; see advertisements below).

The evidence that the Wellington was rebuilt around 1868 comes from a report to the Local Board from the rate collector: “The collector reported that Mr Sale, the Wellington Inn, had refused to pay his rate on the grounds that his house had been pulled down” (see below).

At some point, no later than the 1870s, it is also sometimes referred to as the Wellington Hotel. By the 1920’s inn and hotel seem tohave been used interchangeably and no later than the 1980s it was predominantly referred to as the Wellington Hotel.

Throughout its history there has been a frequent turnover of proprietors with most staying 10 years or less. The proprietor in the early 1880s, Eli Smith, had an unfortunate fatal accident when a horse he was riding down to the Henmore Brook threw him off and kicked him in the head (see below).

From no later than the early 20^th century, the Wellington was leased by the brewers Ind Coope. While Joseph Northwood was the landlord in the early 1920s, car hire was offered and the Wellington became the venue for the Ashbourne Fanciers’ Association (see advertisements below).

In 1926, Ind Coope applied to the local court to make structural alterations to the Wellington. The application was granted after “Supt. Davies said he had no objection, and the alterations were badly needed” (Ashbourne Telegraph - Friday27 August 1926_p4). It is assumed that the fake timbering on the façade and the additional central gabled roof section were added at this time.

Advertisements appeared May-July 1927 announcing that the Wellington Hotel, with proprietor George Smellie, “has recently been re-built at great expense…and is now one of the most up-to-date licensed houses in the town” (see below).

In 1928, George Smellie was re-elected as honorary secretary of Ashbourne Wednesday Football Club and the Wellington Hotel was retained as its headquarters. Ashbourne Wednesday played in the “Derby and District Wednesday League” and were active in the first half of the 20^th century.

In 1997, the new landlord, Martin Street, reopened the Wellington after redecoration and he had very ambitious plans. At the heart of these plans was the idea of making a bunk house for walkers and offering a minibus service (see advertisement below). In addition, he envisaged converting 42-44 St John St, which at the time was empty, into a 39-bedroom hotel.

However, the owner of the Wellington, Pubmaster, did not share his vision so he and his backers decided to pursue their plans elsewhere (Ashbourne News Telegraph -Thursday 05 March 1998_p2). In 1998, after Martin Street had left, Pubmaster announced it wanted to make the Weliington into a young person’s pub (Ashbourne News Telegraph - Thursday 05 February1998_p1).

By 2005, the Wellington had closed its doors and from 2007 the premises were occupied by R. A. James’ The Clock Shop, a business that remains there today.