Jump to content

Devonshire Arms

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Devonshire Arms pub sign in July 2006, featuring the punning Latin inscription "Cavendo tutus" ("I should/must beware all"), alluding to the Devonshire / Cavendish family[1]

The Devonshire Arms is a moderately common name for an English pub. The name is for the Dukes of Devonshire, members of the peerage from a wealthy aristocratic family.

Etymology

[edit]

The name attributes the Duke (and often his wife the Duchess) of Devonshire, a peerage which is today the main peerage held by a Cavendish (the ducal titles of Portland and Newcastle being extinct). Wherever they held much land or contributed to a local vestry or other charity, as at Chatsworth, Derbyshire and in Chiswick, London (formerly Middlesex) are often Cavendish Arms – and later titular Devonshire Arms – pubs and street names[2]

At Chatsworth the pub name "The Snake" refers to the family's coat of arms;[3] as does the Snake Inn, a coaching inn on the old turnpike road on the Snake Pass in the Peak District of Derbyshire[4]

Pubs

[edit]

London

[edit]

The Devonshire Arms in Kensington (37 Marloes Road) is a Victorian era pub built in 1865 with a traditional beer garden. It housed local ARP wardens during The Blitz.

The "Duke of Devonshire" in Balham High Road is a Victorian era corner pub with traditional pub glasswork from the late 1890s, included "an impressive, mirrored bar-back" with original counter and wooden panelling.[5]

The mock Tudor Devonshire Arms in Camden, also known as "The Dev" or by its previous name The Hobgoblin, is said to be "London's most famous alternative venue".[6] It was the first Goth subculture pub in Camden. It is the longest-surviving Goth pub in London and is a focus for the city's alternative scene. During the 1980s, Spider Stacy and Shane MacGowan of the Pogues frequented the pub.[7] The interior featured in "Goths", an episode from a 2003 BBC anthology series, Spine Chillers.[8]

The Devonshire Arms in Chiswick's Devonshire Road (also named for William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire[2]) is a gastropub, formerly known as the Manor Tavern. The current building dates from 1924, but a pub already existed on the site in 1888.[9]

North Yorkshire

[edit]

In Skipton, North Yorkshire, the three storey stone-built pub named for the Duke of Devonshire is known simply as "The Devonshire". It was once called "The New Inn".[10]

Derbyshire

[edit]

In Derbyshire, where the family has its great house at Chatsworth, there are Devonshire Arms pubs at Baslow, Beeley, and Pilsley, the last two both on the estate.[11][12][13]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Cavendo Tutus". Calibre. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Street Names of Chiswick". Chiswick W4. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  3. ^ Hey, David (2010). The Oxford Companion to Family and Local History. Oxford University Press. p. 974. ISBN 978-0-19-104493-9.
  4. ^ "About The Snake Pass Inn". Snake Pass Inn. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  5. ^ "The CAMRA Regional Inventory for London: Pub Interiors of Special Historic Interest" (PDF). Campaign for Real Ale. 2004. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  6. ^ Polly Vernon (24 May 2008). "London's most famous alternative venue does a roaring trade in Snakebite and Black, and mysterious - and very potent - shots". Cocktail girl. The Observer. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  7. ^ Carol Clerk (4 November 2009). Kiss My Arse: The Story of the Pogues. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-85712-019-9. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  8. ^ "Goths (#1.5)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  9. ^ Clegg, Gillian. "Pubs". Brentford and Chiswick Local History Society. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  10. ^ "The Devonshire". Wetherspoon. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  11. ^ "The Devonshire Arms at Beeley". Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  12. ^ "The Devonshire Arms Baslow". Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  13. ^ "The Devonshire Arms Pilsley". Retrieved 22 February 2016.