(Later St. Marks Street off Belgrave Gate, St. Margaret’s Parish.)
The 1818 Commercial Directory lists Thomas Woodcock as victualler of the Rose & Crown, Crab Street. On March 1834, the landlord – Francis Hubbard, died.
On April 1838, the beer house was put up for sale together with Brewhouse and Skittle Ground. Later that year, Edward Castings, aged only nineteen and described as a well known character of Wharf Street, was charged with robbing a quantity of silver from the till of landlord, William Wood, whilst he was out of the room. Sent to the assizes, the jury dropped the bill against him
Edward Castings ran a charmed life in the courts. In 1834, he was reprimanded for disorderly conduct aged 15, and in 1835 he was fined for throwing stones at a police officer – striking him with a stone wrapped in a handkerchief.
The following year, by now aged seventeen, his own mother took him to court charging him with being idle and disorderly, spending his time in beer shops.
On 1837, he was in court, charged for assaulting Elizabeth Gilbert and her daughter in the street.
1838 was the Rose & Crown robbery. 1839, an assault on a man. Finally he got his comeuppance when, in 1840, Castings received a year in prison for severely beating Mary Robinson after a night’s drinking. He beat her so bad she was unable to attend court. This didn’t seem to deter him, however, as in 1844 he was again up for assault on Maria Cave.
29/7/1843 The LC & Mercury report of a disturbance in the Crab Tree (should have read Rose & Crown) when Edward and John Rawlings together with John Patrick violently assaulted PC Voss, after turning the lights out they threatened to knife him proclaiming ‘I’ll rip you open’ The Rawlings were fined£1 or one month and Patrick 7/6 or three weeks. Edward Jorden was the landlord who was described by the local press as being a second Daniel Lambert.
1846 C Cayless was landlord.
The 3rd of October 1851, landlord Edward Rowe was charged with being open on a Sunday morning.
On 1874, the Rose & Crown was still brewing its own beer under Richard Neal. A few changes took place over the next decade, eventually being supplied by the Cardington Brewery from Bedford, later taken over by Nottingham Brewery, followed by Tennant’s.
1883 William Needham was licensee, some of the other licensee’s that followed were, 1890 Thomas Boulter, Crab St would change its name to St Marks St sometime in the 1890’s by 1898 William Payne was licensee.
1911 John Ward and 1920 William Thorpe held the licence.
The Rose & Crown closed October 1936. Tennant’s moved the licence to the newly built Salutation on Victoria Road East.
