The Stories from the Stones 5 - By Steve Lavender

'Stories from the Stones'
Please visit the Contents Page for this section, where you will find other 'Stories from the Stones.'

These same stories are also published on Penistone Archive Group's Facebook page, their Journal and in 'The Bridge' magazine issued by St John's church, Penistone. Many thanks to their tireless author, Mr Steve Lavender, for his worthy contributions to local history and this website. - JB.

Story 5 - Joshua Shewabell, Innkeeper Rose and Crown Penistone, died 1749

During my relatively short time living in Penistone there have been quite a few public houses which have fallen by the wayside. I'm sure many of you will remember places such as The Wentworth Arms; The Britannia; The Flouch to name just a few. If we go back into the archives, we can find many more which have sadly disappeared from our daily lives – The Blue Ball out at Thurlstone; The Miller’s Arms at Saltersbrook; The Birch Tree Inn; The Fleece Inn; The Sportsman’s Arms; Horn’s Tavern; The Rock Inn – in fact maybe a future project could be a walking tour of where these building would have been and a bit about their history!

For this article I would like us to look back over 250 years to 1749 to another lost public house - the Rose and Crown at the top of Shrewsbury Road in Penistone. Interestingly the Rose and Crown we all remember and shown in the photograph below is not the original building. This was built in around 1869 and closed a few years ago before becoming the offices of a law firm.

So, what was the original pub and who was Joshua Shewabell? Well, thanks to a detailed article by my friend Kevin Neill – we know a great deal about this and for a detailed review, why not take a look at Kevin’s article on Penistone Archive's R & C 1749 to 1868 page.

Surprisingly, the main road up to Penistone at that time was up Church Street – the original Rose and Crown of 1749 occupied a site which actually covered the top of what was to become Shrewsbury Road and most likely some of the buildings now occupied by the fish and chip shop, the butchers and the Indian restaurant. If Joshua Shewabell was not the first innkeeper – he was certainly one of the earliest hosts together with his wife Ann.

The Rose and Crown during the Shewabell's time was a very popular place. It became a coaching inn and was on the main route from London to Halifax as well as Manchester to Barnsley, where coaches would stop by daily. Here were stables, a mistal, a dairy and bread house, a boot room, a sitting bar, a kitchen and a market room – to mention just some of the features of this popular coaching inn. At that time, it also bordered the Market Place where a beast market was held in the area which still retains the name and is where our War Memorial is situated.

'Here was Interred the Body of Joshua Shewabell of the Rose and Crown Inn, Peniston, who departed this Life the 5th day of April in y^e year of our Lord 1786 Aged 57 years'

The memorial next to Joshua Shewabell’s in the graveyard is that of William Dagley who we believe followed Joshua as the next landlord of the Inn. So in respect of this month’s story we remember Joshua Shewabell and his wife Ann and who survived Joshua and lived to a grand old age of 85, passing away in 1810. The burial ground has many people interred who at some time were a part of the Penistone hospitality scene and we may return to another in the future.

My thanks to Kevin Neill and Jack Briggs for their documentation of the area's pubs and specifically - The Rose and Crown; and as usual J N Dransfield’s 'History of Penistone' 1906. Steve Lavender, Chair Friends of St John’s Church Penistone. February 2021. See also the Rose and Crown history page.