Gibraltar Inn

Standing almost midway between what was Marlborough Row (now St Aubyn Road) and Granby Lane, was the Gibraltar Inn. While not a particularly common pub name, there are a number of examples dotted around the country, most of them in ports, as you might expect, and all of them after 1704, which is when the island was captured by the English and Dutch. Ceded to Britain after the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) the act was renewed by the Treaty of Versailles in 1783, after several years of siege (1779-1783) by the Spanish and French.

Ever a strategic point of control for the Western Mediterranean, Gibraltar has long been a familiar port of call for the Royal Navy and it is quite likely that the licensee who conferred the name on this short-lived beerhouse was an ex-serviceman. He may have served on one of the ships that bore that name, there have been seven over the years, all post-1704 (the first was built in 1711).

Licensees

1847 - Josiah Phillips
1852 - Thomas Cox
1862 - Thomas Bailey
1867 - Thomas Thompson