Three Crowns

Time was when Cattedown had a busy little community with its own bakery, grocery, shops, shoemaker and a handful of pubs; the Freemasons which survived until the 1950s; the Breakwater, which was converted to flats in 1997; the Passage House, which was rebuilt at the turn of the nineteenth century and still stands today and the Three Crowns – which disappeared a very long time ago. Prior to the construction of Cattedown Wharves, the Three Crowns stood right on the water’s edge – it appeared on a map from the mid-1860s a little to south and west of the Passage House, just a little bit around the corner towards Coxside.

As there was an ancient ferry service connecting Cattedown to Oreston and Turnchapel and predating Laira Bridge, it is feasible that the Three Crowns, like its Sutton Harbour namesake, dated from the accession of James I and VI, who, in 1603, united England, Scotland and Wales – but it most likely to be of a later date than that, there is record of a sale however, of the Three Crowns, Catdown, on 2 March 1778 – Cuthbert Watson is man who was either buying or selling.

Licensees

1865 - F Joslin