How often does one think of church and pub (not to mention in the modern age, the village hall) as being at the centre of community life, past present, and future? In our case we are fortunate to have an historic Church House Inn, within the traditional forty paces of the church gate.
Pevsner said of the Church House: now an Inn on the village green. Long, rendered, with a stone newel staircase at the southwest corner. Though superficially altered inside, (the staircase which was originally external, has now been integrated within the building), the structured frame of the building, is of special architectural and historic interest. In the present bar, eight massive axiel beams include one against the gable and stack, so eight bays are evident. These give some impression of the fine roof trusses, all dating from the sixteenth century, or earlier. They were put up by clever craftsmen of the kind (were they closely related?) who executed the building of the church. The rebuilding of the church was in the 15th century, although the earliest part is clearly 13th century.
Thus, the Church House Inn of Rattery has a quasi-ecclesiastical character. There is site evidence of an earlier building prior to that which we know today. This explains the posited foundation date of 1028, a long time before the sixteenth century building. The building is on a long rectangular plan. Next to the stair turret bottom doorframe with cranked head, in the south west corner is a fireplace, with a massive stone lintel. At the opposite end is to be found a rare Edward VII post-box, salvaged from a traffic accident at the Viaduct. The dining room has been converted from original stabling. It is difficult to imagine, but what is now the beer cellar at rear of the inn, was once the main entrance, which fronted onto the road, and this explains the position of the horse mounting block. There is a well, in the present lounge, by the modern staircase, which has been covered, for safely reasons, and is no longer in evidence.
A later description of the Church House can be found in the Devonshire Association Transactions, dated 1960. An old house on the village green, immediately west of the church. A long building, with smooth colour washed stuccoed walls, and grouted slate roof. In front, to the west, is a wide rectangular staircase projection, under a continuation of the main roof, which extends a little way to form a pentice. At the rear are two large and lofty chimney stacks, from shallow breasts. All the windows are late wooden framed replacements, and the outer doorways are plain and featureless; the staircase, circular and of stone has nine steps four feet wide, and entered from the present bar, through a good oak doorway, with a triangular head, ovolo, and hollow moulded The bar ceiling has crudely chamfered beams, and a modernised fireplace. In the large room, east of the bar, are similar ceiling beams; part of a massive plank screen, and an open fireplace hired at the sides with stone slabs, and a wooden lintel. At the rear of the inn is a mounting block.
Church Houses were mostly used by those who came to church. Undoubtedly they played a large part, not only in the civil life, but also were an important adjunct to the church. When village life was strong in Britain, some churchwardens provided malt, which was made into strong beer, or ale and sold either in church or nearby. Money so obtained would be applied to church repairs, and to provide for services. In the west country, the church authorities often staunchly defended this old custom. Early diocesan reports of church ales put it plainly: they are for people who go from afternoon prayer to their lawful sports, and pastimes in the churchyard, or in some public house where they drink and make merry.
For ten years, from 1601, William Martin was the innkeeper at Rattery. Even at that date, the Inn had become an important part of the social, economic, political, and even the religious changes that were ocurring. It was the one place, apart from their homes, where serfs had some freedom of expression, and could socialise, out of sight (and hearing) of the lord of the manor. The income from the sale of ale was used to also fund voluntary groups, such as the bellringers, who would appear to have been lavishly entertained in the Church House Inn. There are some old customs that should definitely be revived!
There is in the pub, a document which purports to be authentic dated October 23rd 1779, from The Court House, Ashburton:
Your Lordships,
With regard to ye late epidemic of Highway Robbery upon ye Ashburton to Bovey Tracy Highroads.
Information has this day been laid with us that the sole perpetrator of these Barbarous Acts of Violence upon ye Exeter coach and its Innocent Passengers is one Thomas Carter – alias Capt. Black, - a Notorious Rogue and Wanted Criminal. It is further disclosed that the proceeds of these Infamous Violations have been carried after nightfall to ye Church House Inn at Rattery – where they have been secreted away within Ingenious Hiding Places, set within the fabric of the building.
Therefore with Your Lordships consent, it is my firm contention to place a discreet watch upon ye said house, in order that we may apprehend the culprit. I trust that my actions will meet with Your Lordships approbation.
Your humble servant,
George Harley
Capt. Light Dragoons
A poster advertising a fifty guinea reward for the capture of Captain Black is also on display in the pub.
From the earliest times, inns and taverns had to put up a sign. Whereas the title Church House was a common ale house sign outside Devon, the Church House Inn was apparently only found in Devon, south, roughly speaking, of a line between Kingsbridge and Walkhampton. Pengelly drew attention to this in 1872, stating that Church House Inn, was the thirteenth most popular, out of twenty-four repetitions of titles in Devon. The most common was New Inn (104); Church House Inn occurred fifteen times. He believed the title was common to South Devon because the district was a stronghold of Puritanism during the troublesome times of the Stuarts. Two hundred years ago, there were over sixty Church Houses in Devon, but very few inns. A good many were poor houses, some schools, and some simply let. At Rattery, and in the nearby cluster, they had already been let as inns, for fully two hundred years more! The Charity Commissioners' records show they were invested in feoffees or trustees for the general use of the parish, the church included, in a regular and systematic way. The rent (and some of the income figures are displayed on the walls of the pub today) would have been used to meet the requirements of the poor, and devoted to church repair.
An ancient family bible has been kept in a nook above the south-west spiral staircase since 1822, and on blank pages between the Old and New Testaments, James Sambell lists the births and deaths of his family between 1812, and 1851. On the fly leaf, below his name is written, Steal not this book for fear of shame, for up above is the owner’s name.
The list of innkeepers shows that `landladies' have played an important part since 1672. For a long period before 1914: William Coaker, Victualler, and Carpenter (1827 - 1870)
followed by his widow, Jane Coaker, (1870 - 1873)
George Coaker( 1873 - 1878)
followed by his widow, Mary Ann Coaker, ( 1899 - 1914)
In 1947, the church sold the inn, and the landlords became owners, rather than tenants, (it remains a free house to this day). When William and Sylvia Kirk (1970 – 1985) took over, the car was dramatically changing the role of the village pub, especially in small villages like Rattery, where pubs could no longer survive on local custom. Bill was the front of house man, and the administrator, and Sylvia organised the menu, and the kitchen, and this was a combination that worked extremely well. They introduced an extensive bar menu, and when word of the excellent food spread by word of mouth, they began to attract patrons from beyond the village. Initially they lived upstairs, and used the ground floor room, to the left of the bar as their dining room. When they bought West Meads and moved out of the pub, they turned the dining room into a successful restaurant. They also introduced theme nights, with Beaujolais Nouveau (with staff in berets and horizontal striped shirts), Burns Night (with a piper), and New Years Eve celebrations. On Christmas mornings, there was a mass exodus from the church, and into the pub for hors d’ourves, and punch.
The present landlord, Ray Hardy has undertaken extensive renovations to the Inn both inside and out and maintains the reputation for good food that attracts customers from a 25 mile radius and beyond.
Every self-respecting pub of great age should have a ghost, and the Church House is no exception. The Kirk’s son Graham reports that there is a rather shy, but friendly spirit in residence. He (or she) waited until the patrons had left and the staff were clearing up, before making its’ presence known by walking around upstairs late at night. Footsteps could be heard upstairs, but not in the corridor. It walked through walls, which makes one wonder if the layout of the upstair rooms and been different in earlier times. Graham only saw the ghost once, when he saw a distinct shadow moving around in their dining room. However, it also made its’ presence known on occasion by moving glasses around in the bar. Brian Evans (the previous landlord) was at that time the only person in the pub to deal with the beer and the pumps, but two or three times every year, the pump pressure would suddenly disapear, and when he would go to check, he would find that there was plenty of gas to pump the beer. The pumps, however, had mysteriously been switched off, when no one but Brian could have had access to the cellar. On another occasion a parishioner informed Brian that he had seen someone go through the gate in the middle of the hedge into his garden. When informed that there was no gate in that spot, he refused to believe this, until he had examined the hedge, but he still swore that he saw a hooded figure go through the hedge at that particular place.
There are other pieces of folklore concerning the pub. One surrounds the painting, (signed ‘Mary Fisher’ and dated 1892), of the monk, hanging in the bar, to the right of the door to the kitchen. The legend is that calamity will befall the pub if it is removed. The only time it left the pub was when it was sent for cleaning, and the landlord had an accident and fell off a ladder. Another concerns a tunnel from the pub to the church. Legend has it that one exists, and runs from the fireplace in what was the public bar, where there is an inlet is visible in the left hand side of the Inglenook. There is also supposed to be a priest hole in the same place. The lintel is of extraordinary length, and extends several feet beyond the end of the fireplace. The priest hole is understandable, but no one knows why there should be a tunnel in situ, or where it is suppose to exit in the church. However, a parishioner with divining skills has determined that there appears to be a void running from the fireplace, through the pub, an exits under the front wall at the east end.
The Church House Inn continues to be a focus of village life, and amongst other events, it hosts annual visits from the Dartington Morris Men, and the Rattery Carol Singers. It attracting visits from individual village families, (who can eat and drink, without having to worry about drinking and driving), and with the kind permission of Ray Hardy, it has also been used for various village meetings, especially when the village was without a village hall.
It is to be hoped that if someone is writing a village history at the turn of the next millennium, the Church House Inn will still be a vital part of the community.
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