"It is said that in its heyday Deal boasted the largest number of pubs per capita in the country - 250 for a resident population of around 5,000!"
The Magnet Inn in Deal, Kent, once managed by successive members of my VERRIER ancesters.
Magnet Inn - 267 London Road, Deal, Kent, CT14 9TP
Telephone: 01304-360842
Facilities - Garden / Car Parking / Dogs made welcome
Games - Darts / Pool / Bar Billiards
Photo Marc Sherland
The Inn is in a prominent position on the London Road (A258), Upper Deal, which is the main road out of town to Sandwich and then onto Cantebury. This road was once called the Turnpike Road and the Magnet Inn was located at number 62. From its position, it is possible that the Magnet Inn, may well have replaced the turnpike house, lying as it does just beyond a right angle in London Road in a "Y" junction.
It would also probably have served as a coaching inn, along with the nearby Admiral Keppel Inn, which lies at the other end of a short section of Church Path facing St. Leonards Parish Church. The Magnet Inn is presently a Shepherd & Neame property http://www.shepherd-neame.co.uk/, only recently acquired by Shepherd Neame in 1995, but on one of the interior walls there is a line drawing showing the premises with Whitbread signage.
To the right of the Magnet Inn in this photo, you can see the wall of a cemetery, the ancient parish churchyard, directly overlooked from the upstairs windows of the Inn. One of the stories related by my cousin Bob Collyer, suggests that in the Victorian period, the Verrier landlords, were paid a fee by the parish, to keep guard over the cemetery against body-snatchers. Apparently, they sat at the window for long hours at night, with a shotgun at the ready. Whether they ever caught anyone, I do not know.
Within the churchyard, I discovered a gravestone, lying hard up against the wall of the Magnet Inn, hidden by a great old yew tree, and dedicated to my ancestors the Verrier family. There is a photo of it below, with more detail of the family.
The Admiral Keppel 90 Manor Road, Deal. Photo Marc Sherland
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Landlords of the Magnet Inn.
1. Richard VERRIER (baptised at Deal on 20 September 1767, died on 08 October 1850 Deal, Kent.) married on 20 August 1788 in Deal. Mary BENNETT (Notes : He kept the Magnet Inn, 62 Turnpike Road, Upper Deal, now changed to - The Magnet Inn, 267 London Road, Deal, Kent. ) He became a freeman of Deal on 17 Feb 1791.
2. - William Pittock VERRIER, (Richard's 2nd son) born in Deal the 20 January 1793. (Inn Keeper of Magnet Inn, 62 Turnpike Road) married in Elham 1850 Jane ? (born 1811 Kingsdown, Ringwold)
3. George Albert VERRIER (Richard's grandson, by his 6th son.) (born 1851 Walmer, Kent) married 8th August, 1870 at St. Martin's Church, Mongeham Harriet Sarah HODGES (born 1856 Walmer, Kent) George becomes proprietor of the Magnet Inn by 1870, when he married. George was a licensed victualler.
Landlords of other licesnsed premises.
Bowling Green Tavern
The Bowling Green Tavern 164 Church Path, Deal, is on the corner of Bowling Green Lane and Middle Deal Road.
Richard VERRIER, (Richard's 1st son) (born 13th March 1791 in Deal, bapt. 23 march 1791). At 1841 was visiting at the Magnet Inn (Licenced Victualler of Bowling Green Tavern) 109 Garvel Walk (unmarried) Ornithologist. In 1881 Richard is living in George Walk.
Un-named Beershop
Benjamin Robert VERRIER (Richard's 6th child) (born 1805 Deal, Kent ) (grocer) married in 1830 Sarah Johanna MARSH (born 1807 Walmer, Kent, died 1885) Notes in 1825 he became a freeman of Deal, in 1834 or 26 July, 1825, Benjamin was a grocer, in 1838 he was a policeman at Deptford, in 1845. He was in charge of an un-named beer shop in Walmer, in 1851 and a proprietor of horses. Lived at 66 Back Walmer Road, Upper Deal Rd Deal, Kent, England.
Benjamin's son George Albert VERRIER became proprietor of the Magnet Inn.
The Admiral Keppel
Interestingly The Admiral Keppel just up from both the Magnet Inn and The Bowling Green had a Mrs. Susannah VERRIER MARSH ( born Abt 1851 Deal, Ken, Eng.) landlady of Admiral Keppel Public House, Upper Deal info from Kelly's Directory 1882
This photograph of the Magnet Inn was kindly taken for me by Tony Hyland a very kind soul.
Beerhouses - The Magnet Inn was usually referred to as a "Beerhouse" in most early listings, ie. census listings, directories such as Piggot and Bagshaw. A Beerhouse was a licensed premises, which was brought into being following the Beerhouse Act of 1830, when an attempt was made to put an end to home brewing for sale to the public. The unsatisfactory nature of this home brewing industry, produced beer of questionable and unregulated quality and the sale of beer onto the street, meant that it often became a public nuisance. The new Beerhouses were frequently opened in the poorer areas of a community or town and replaced the unregulated brewing trade. They were therefore, commonly linked with older illegal "trades" which were popular in areas where making ends meet, often implied smuggling or highway robbery.
The Bowling Green Tavern, The Magnet Inn and the nearby Admiral Keppel Inn may well have had links with smugglers in the past, the long Church Path, which leads into the town and towards the coast, may well have provided a secure route for the goods to be carried away from the prying eyes of the excise men and moved from pub to pub.
St Leonards Parish Church Deal. Photo taken by Marc Sherland
The gravestone inscription reads "In Memory of Benjamin Verrier son of Richard and Mary Verrier, who died March 21 1801 aged 4 years. Sarah Sophia Verrier, their daughter, died March 21 1802 aged 2 years. Eliza Arabella Verrier their daughter died 7th May 1812 aged 14 years."
Later Richard and Mary named their next daughter Sarah and their last son Benjamin.