Stephen Nunn: Royal Oak pub in Hazeleigh has colourful past

He went on to list the principal farmers of the village, as well as the resident shoemaker, wheelwright, baker, brick-maker and a certain William Sandford, who was “victualler at the ‘Oak Inn’”.

By the time William Sandford was landlord of the Royal Oak, in Fambridge Road, the simple little beer house, with its back to the fields, was at least seven years old.

The earliest reference I can find to it is in the 1841 census, where it appears simply as "Oak" and is occupied by Samuel Carter, "Beer Shop Keeper”, and wife Emma.

The 1846 Tithe Award gives John Pitcairn as the owner and the Carters had been replaced by James Smith.

Pitcairn was a brewer, with his 'tap' at the Carpenters Arms, Maldon, and a tied estate, which included the Royal Oak.

His resident landlord, James Smith, had previously been an agricultural labourer in Hazeleigh and would have been around 40 when the Tithe was taken.

We know from White’s Directory that he was replaced by William Sandford.

William, originally of Gestingthorpe, near Halstead, married Steeple-born Susannah Spooner in Hazeleigh in 1844.

By the time the 1851 census was taken, the couple were living at the Royal Oak with their two young daughters – Ellen, aged one, and Emily, two months, along with a visitor (Ellen Spooner) and a lodger (George Heard).

William died in October 1858 (aged only 36), as did, tragically, daughter Emily.

Susannah and Ellen moved to Wantz Road, with Susannah re-marrying in 1863.

In the Sandford’s stead came the Braziers.

Robert Brazier had previously been the landlord of the Star, Writtle, but by 1861 was ensconced at the Royal Oak with wife Elizabeth (née Belsham), a native of Mundon.

It was during their tenure that a primitive greyhound track was established in the side garden (now the car park). This surprising initiative would prove very popular and continue for many years.

The Royal Oak pub sign (Image: Stephen Nunn)

The Braziers were still serving the beer in 1871 and had a lodger with them, William Irvine.

Robert Brazier died in 1872 and next it was the turn of Charles Hammond. He wasn’t at the Royal Oak for long, because by 1881 the publican was 62-year-old Norfolk man Pettitt Johnson, assisted by his 27 year old (yes, 27!) wife, Emma.

They had a 28-year-old male lodger, George Wallis. I know what you are thinking, but it wasn’t George who stole her heart. On March 23, 1889, the Maldon Express newspaper reported “the elopement of the landlady of the Royal Oak, Hazeleigh, with a ganger (a team leader) on the new line of the railway”.

The track from Maldon West to Woodham Ferrers was under construction and the Royal Oak was one of the navvies’ favoured watering holes.

The paper went on to say that the landlord was “a man over 60, while his wife is a woman of 35, who, although not a poet’s ideal, is said to be attractive”.

How rude!

Pettitt continued at the pub and was there when, on the evening of Saturday, April 15, 1893, local bobby Sgt Adam Eves called in around 10pm with some reward notices concerning the poisoning of rooks.

He would be one of the last people to see Sgt Eves alive, for he was murdered that night by burglars at Hazeleigh Hall, just over the fields.

Sergeant Eves was last seen alive at the Royal Oak (Image: picture by permission Kevin Fuller)

Pettitt Johnson died on November 18, 1893, leaving an estate of only £24.

Pitcairn’s Maldon Brewery sold out to Walter Gray and Sons in 1896 and Gray’s first landlord was Charles Everett who, by 1901, was living at the pub with three farm worker lodgers.

Building alterations took place in 1902 and by 1905 James South was publican.

The 1911 Census shows him there with wife Emily (née Bird) and lodger, George Baxter.

The following year (1912) George Trowles was publican and then, in 1942, Harry Shrimpton.

Older residents remember when Mrs Law was landlady in the late 1950s and into the 60s.

JF Bees had it briefly and then, when I was a youngster and my parents drank there, it was Peter Sharp.

He was the landlord when, in 1978, the Royal Oak was described as having “a bright cosmopolitan air. A lively place...brisk…(with) beer straight from the barrel”.

Other names followed - Connor and Neave amongst them.

In more recent times, John Walpole and Julia Wingfield received well-deserved plaudits for their management of the place, including a CAMRA award for most improved pub in 2012.

In 2013, Kim and Carol became Gray’s latest custodians of the Royal Oak. With the establishment of the nearby estate of Handley Gardens and a linking footpath, business is booming and planning permission has been granted to extend the pub to form a new restaurant area and new toilets.

As consultee, the Campaign for Pubs put it: “In a challenging economic climate it is wise for businesses to expand to optimise their business model and help assure survival.”

Based on the lunch we had their recently, the Royal Oak has a bright future, just as colourful (but hopefully not as controversial) as aspects of its fascinating past.