Photo above: Militia parade, in front of area of market place where the Victorian fish market was eventually to go. The Little Crown can be seen on the left.
The inn was to go the same way as the Lion & Dolphin, as it was only a couple of doors away, but the wrangling that preceded the eventual demolition was protracted.
The Little Crown (circa 1815), was partly owned by the Birkhill family and partly by the Duchy of Lancaster with a lease to the Town Corporation. It also had an entrance in Horsefair Street.
As early as 1836, the Corporation intended to remove and enlarge the fish market to ground close to the Little Crown, which was occupied at that time by Mr Page – the landlord of the Little Crown – for stabling. Mr Page agreed to vacate the ground for the new fish market of which plans had been drawn up with iron gates for the entrance, roofing and iron columns to support the same.
In 1839, the council gave notice to the owner of the inn to quit. The council recommended that the clerk be empowered to enforce Mr Birkhill’s removal, which they believed could be done for little cost. Birkhill refused to quit, producing deeds to prove that he had owned part of the premises since the early 1800s, putting a spanner in the council’s plans.
By 1847, years of negotiations to purchase the part of the inn by the corporation from Mr Birkhill for a ‘very low price’ had come to nothing. Birkhill held out for £1000, eventually settling for £999.
The following year it was reported that work on pulling down the inn had started, but this must have been only the market place structure, as the Little Crown continued trading, although the address was now Horsefair Street.
In 1848, work on the improvement of the Market Place and new Corn Exchange commenced and the Little Crown plodded on, albeit on a smaller scale fronting Horsefair Street.
In its life the Little Crown was it seems only had one local owner – the Birkhill family – and only three or four licensees.
The main landlord was John Payne, followed by his widow, Mary, who ran the pub for over twenty five years. John Payne founded and ran a ‘friendly society’ and such was the esteem in which he was held that Mary was presented with a ‘handsome ring’ in token of John’s previous work with the society, which he had left in such flourishing condition. In fact, the society was £270 in hand when he died. So popular had the society become, membership was now being restricted to over twenty eight years of age.
After the Paynes, James and Elizabeth Taylor were victuallers at the Little Crown. Elizabeth Taylor, aged thirty three, was a stout woman who liked a drink. The servants said she was a heavy drinker, but seemed to be able to conduct her business even when in drink. On one occasion she had fallen in the bar blacking her eyes to an extent where she had to have them ‘leeched.’
Something had to give, and one day in June 1854, Elizabeth left the bar to go into the parlour where she just keeled over and died on the spot.
The Little Crown had its licence removed in September 1873. No time was spared and it was to be finally demolished in October 1873. The building materials were auctioned off on the 1st of November that year.
The Royal Hotel was then built.