Fountain Inn (Castle Street)

At one point, in the middle of the nineteenth century, Castle Street, running up from the Barbican, had ten pubs or beerhouses among it’s modest tally of twenty-something properties, indeed in one stretch, from No.s 5-12 inclusive, there were seven – in the middle of them was the Fountain.

Dating back to the eighteenth century at the very least, the Fountain, and most of Castle Street, had however, become somewhat seedy by the 1850s: unsanitary, overcrowded and, according to local social improvers, debauched. Before taking on the licensed premises it appears that there was a brief period when the name was changed to Bethel Street to try and improve the image. That move didn’t last however closing the pubs did have an impact and it would appear that few of the drinking holes on the south side of the street survived into the 1860s and by the 1870s even those on the north side had shut up shop.

Licensees

1804 - Thomas Cooksley
1824 - Samuel Casey
1830 - Mary Caseley
1844 - James Smith
1852 - George Petherick
1857 - William Short