The Wellington
| Status: | Closed. Now a private residence with no public access. Please respect the owners' privacy when viewing the exterior of this building. |
A nice old purpose-built pub now converted to flats, it has also been called the Duke of Wellington and the Wellington Inn over the years but will always be known to locals as “the Welly”.
History
The Welly was listed Grade II by English Heritage in 1972 and at that stage it was recorded as having been built in 1798 with reference to “various documentary sources”. Today it is private residences and is officially known as 18 and 18A King's Quay Street.
The pub is built in red Flemish-bond brickwork with Gault brick dressings. The front has a plain parapet and an off-centre column of the facade projects slightly to house the old main doorway and bricked-up first storey window recess, both with painted semicircular arches on impost blocks.
On 7th July 1875 the East Anglian Daily Times reported; Petty Sessions, Yesterday. The bench refused to give their sanction to an application made by Mr. A. A. Watts, on behalf of Mr. Morley, of the Wellington Inn, for permission to open his house at 5am, as they considered that the question had previously been decided.
It isn't clear why James Morley wanted to open at such an early hour but one can speculate that he was trying to attract night workers or market traders - certainly the pub was right on the doorstep of the market place. In any case Mr. Morley stayed at the pub until 1877 when George Sillitoe took over as landlord.
In 1897 landlord William Brown submitted plans to make one room of the Welly into a music hall and permission was granted under the Amended Public Health Act (1890) which gave powers to any publican to use a portion of his premises as a music hall. In 1901 the wonderfully named Catherine Beer is resident at the pub being employed as a pianist whilst, confusingly, Florence Band is employed as a barmaid.
In 1907 the Welly came up for sale as the owners Messrs Smith and Beaumont, who were Harwich builders, had gone bankrupt and the pub and other freehold properties were featured in a sale at the Three Cups in Church Street. The pub was bought by Cobbold, the Ipswich brewers , and Frank Stanley Greenwood stayed on as landlord at a rent of £125 per annum.
The Welly closed in 1999 and was converted to flats.
Notable Facts, Things to Look Out For
- If the pub was built in 1798 it is difficult to believe that it was originally called the Wellington because although Lt. Col. Arthur Wellesley landed at Harwich in 1795 with the 33rd regiment on his way back from Holland it wasn't until 1814 after the Battle of Waterloo and Napolean's abdication he became the 1st Duke of Wellington.