About the Dodford Inn
It seems the
Dodford Inn was built between 1851 and 1861. The six acres on which
it stood originally were bought by John Ward, a butcher from Bolton,
in 1850 from Feargus O’Connor for £225.
In the Bromsgrove Directory for 1866 he was named as a beer seller,
no doubt making his own brew. In the 1867 and 1868 entries he
appeared as the innkeeper at the Dodford Inn, the first mention of
the name. In the 1871 census he was described as the publican and
landowner of 6 acres.
In the 1881 census his grand—daughter Elizabeth Gartside was
described as a visitor at the Fosters at Allotment 47 (now Sun
Valley) in Priory Road. Mr Dolphin told me that Mr Topp of Allotment
22 (now the Millstone) in Woodland Road was the village carpenter
and used to make the coffins and old Mrs Dolphin, his grandmother
used to line the coffins with offcuts from the bonnets. Elizabeth
Gartside was a machinist working at the Bonnet Factory either in
Hartley House or the old Post Office.
In 1881 John Ward was described as a retired publican and the
licensee then was John Elcock from Himley in Staffordshire. He was
also a market gardener, so presumably the six acres were put to good
use. He appeared in the 1871 census, living somewhere in Woodland
Road. He was the publican for some considerable time and was
probably followed by his daughter Julia. She had married Henry
Johnson, a farmer from Woodcote in 1882. When John Elcock died in
1914 he left everything to Julia who died in 1917.
The Dodford Inn was the chartist settlement’s only pub. Feargus
O’Connor always spoke out against drink, though he was rather
partial to a drop himself! There is no evidence of any other beer
seller on the estate.
The first settlement at Heronsgate never had a pub on the estate but
very early on there was a pub on the road leading to the settlement.
It was aptly called the Land of Liberty.
It is still there today.
The Dodford Inn is in the Dodford conservation Area, as is the whole
of the Dodford Chartist settlement. See the District Council’s
Conservation Area map for Dodford.
