Context 165 - August 2020

30 C O N T E X T 1 6 5 : A U G U S T 2 0 2 0 granted.The action of the magistrates under the 1902 act led to the closure of many sub-standard premises but their local power, and often strong temperance links, largely prevented the improve- ment or redevelopment of public houses. Sometimes known as the Brewers Burial Act or the Balfour Act, the Licensing Act 1904 pro- vided compensation for premises whose licences were removed as a result of action by the licens- ing justices. Thousands of pubs were closed as a result. The money to pay the compensation came from the trade itself by a payment known as ‘monopoly value’, demanded of the brewer when a new licence was granted. The 1904 act led to a bargaining situation between breweries and magistrates to close smaller pubs if a larger one were to be built. Brewing companies which bargained were able to open houses in areas of potential development.These new developments in expanding, often suburban, areas became the trial grounds for a new approach to public house design in the years between the wars. The wartime government of the first world war was concerned about drunkenness in the work- force. The prime minister, David Lloyd George, announced that ‘we are fighting Germany, Austria and drink, and… the greatest of these deadly foes is drink’. Legislation was introduced in an attempt to curb the problem, which was considered particularly dangerous among muni- tions workers. The Defence of the Realm Act 1914 restricted beer production and encouraged a reduction in the strength of beer. The sale of certain types of strong drink was prohibited, new restrictions on opening hours were introduced and the act even prevented pub customers from buying each other drinks. The Carlisle experiment The influx of 30,000 war munitions workers into rural Cumberland led to a sharp increase in the number of convictions for drunkenness. In response, in January 1916 the government took over all breweries and licensed premises in and around Carlisle, acquiring five breweries and 321 public houses. Similar state ownership took place at Enfield Lock and the Cromarty Firth. One hundred and thirty pubs were soon closed and those which survived were often radically altered. Small rooms and snugs, which could not easily be supervised by the management, were removed, as remaining pubs were gutted internally. Although much of the improvement was confined to the alteration of existing build- ings, some new pubs were built. These differed considerably from those of the 19th century, being large and spacious, without small rooms and compartments, and providing the customer with distractions from drink, such as billiard tables and bowling greens. Many innovations and introductions were made to the plan and design of the new buildings. The architect to the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic) was Harry Redfern. His 14 New Model Inns were designed in an arts-and-crafts style. Today New Model Inns (Apple Tree, Andalusian, Magpie, Cumberland Inn, Spinners Arms, and Horse and Farrier) and remodelled houses (Crown Inn, GlobeTavern and Near Boot Inn) are all listed Grade II. Regarded as experi- mental, the Carlisle houses were studied with interest by potential pub designers elsewhere. The Improved Public House At the end of the war brewers and magistrates alike began to reassess the public house trade. Brewers, plotting their economic route into the next decade, were eager to expand into the new estates and on to arterial roads. Magistrates, heartened by the Carlisle experiment, wrested with their moral consciousness and were at last prepared to consider building new pubs. Some magistrates, like those in Birmingham, saw very soon after the war the potential benefit from moving pubs from congested urban sites to those where there was greater scope for improvement. Characteristically, the new Birmingham pubs, built mainly for Mitchell and Butler, Ansells and John Davenport, were enormous premises in roadside locations and evolved the basic rules of ‘improved’ internal layout and plan. The The Cumberland Inn, Botchergate, Carlisle (1930), designed by Harry Redfern