1876 Wm Brown was granted a provisional licence for the proposed building, later that year, Joseph Isaac Hallam, a Mere Road property developer, was granted a licence under a promise to spend £5000 on a handsome building with a clock. was granted the same. 1881 Hallam was granted a full licence. He was also the owner.
Designed by Arthur Wakerley, the beer was supplied according to the Justice Licence records by Thomas Salt of Burton, also for a time James Hole Brewers of Newark. becoming a LBM house, circa 1922. Acquired by Ansells Brewery, circa 1952, the Imperial was altered circa 1926 and again in 1939. The cupola was apparently an observation post lookout for enemy planes during WWII.
Under the Music & Singing Act 1891, the Imperial was given a music licence ‘for as long as the house had a licence’. During both World Wars singing was frowned upon in public houses, but due to its licence the Imperial was one of the very few allowed to carry on.
1912 Edwin John Knight became landlord. John Etherden would be there 1913, James Connolly 1915, Robert Hackett 1926, Herbert Frederick Follows 1928, Joseph Howard c1950, Clifford Poole 1954, Joseph Poole 1957.
In his Inns of Leicester Eric Swift writes that the locals believed that when the clock stopped, the music would too.
The pub closed not long after the death of much respected licensee Jarnail Deal in 1991 He had previously been at the Bakers Arms & Martin Inn before moving to the Imperial c1981. Jarnail became the first Asian landlord to become President of the LVA (Licensed Victulars Association)
Photo above and below (Jeremy Corbett collection) 2023
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