There have been a large number of pubs in Arnold over the years, with some 40 public houses being recorded in the town at various times.
Many of these may in fact be the same pub as they changed their names from time to time with the Old Spot now being called Cooper’s Brook and the Horse and Jockey now being called Eagles Corner. These being two recent examples of this trend.
Pub names were traditional and therefore old pub names have a meaning connected with the area, history or position of the establishment. Many original pub names were derived from a simple sign or object since most people could not read so the boozer had to be easily identified.
The Plough was an easy object to put outside a pub in the countryside. Some sign artists depict the Plough as the constellation; this consists of seven stars and so leads to the name the Seven Stars found in Arnold, Redcliffe, Bristol, Shincliffe, County Durham, Chancery Lane, Robertsbridge and High Holborn
The Seven Stars pub building on Calverton Road, Arnold was much older than its first recorded date of 1805 and is possibly from the 1700s. It is known that there were four pubs in Arnold in 1644 but not where they were positioned, or their names, so there may have been a previous building on this site. This may well have been called The Plough and had a plough as a sign. It could have also been The Star as this was traditionally the pub name of the building nearest to a St Mary’s Church. The Seven Stars and The Star being common in this form. An example of this was that my younger daughter used to live in a converted pub in Thetford, Norfolk next to the local St Mary’s Church and this had been called The Star.
The Seven Stars in Arnold had been owned in the 1800s by the Robinson family and was one of a number of local pubs they acquired early on as part of their business ventures. The two brothers John and Samuel Robinson, who started Home Brewery and Daybrook Laundry, bought pubs before they started the brewery.
The brothers appear to have given this one up on Seven Stars however as it was a Hutchinsons Basford Brewery pub in 1913.
The sale along with others was possibly to raise money to start the Home Brewery. They must have bought it back again at a later date as it sold Home Ales later in its life.
Earlier landlords of this pub appear to have been from the same family and it was possible that it was family owned rather than having tenant landlords..Thomas Sulley was the publican of the Seven Stars Pub in Caverton Road, Arnold in 1881 Joseph Sulley was the publican in 1891 (presumably his son) and another Thomas Sulley was the publican in 1905 (presumably Joseph’s son).
In the 1800s venues around Nottingham included the Seven Stars in Arnold, would have been kept busy with inquests in to sudden deaths.
During the first half of the 20th century pit deaths in Notts were running at around five every month with 1929 topping the list with 64 men killed. Many of the local ones at Bestwood, Calverton and Gedling pits involved local Arnold men and these inquests were held at the Seven Stars.
These deaths from accidents included: Roof falls, falls down the shaft, falling objects, being killed by tools, being kicked/crushed/bitten by horses…and one death from a diseased animal. Men were caught in machinery, drowned, electrocuted, burnt, scalded, run over by moving tubs, asphyxiated or killed by rope breaks. Working the pits was a very dangerous occupation at the time.
When the Seven Stars finally closed its doors in 1969, the licence was transferred to the Long Bow pub which replaced it further up Calverton Road,
The last licensee Keith Robins went to the Flying Horse on High Street, Arnold. This was another pub with a long history but that’s a story for another day.
