History

200 Years of History at The Falcon Inn
Hall of fame

History of The Falcon Inn

1829-1838
Henry Justice

Henry Justice decided to settle in Hinstock and purchased land to build Hinstock Hall between 1829 and 1833. The building of Hinstock Hall was completed by 1838.

1836
Naming of The Falcon Inn

A William Astin of Caynton Mill was the owner of ‘The Red Lion’ in Hinstock in the early part of the 19th Century and Henry Justice purchased it in 1836. Local history suggests that Henry renamed ‘The Red Lion’ as ‘The Falcon Inn’ because two falcons were included on the Justice family’s Coat of Arms.

1841-1863
Elizabeth Lockley and Martha Lloyd

The 1841 Census lists the Beer Sellers in Hinstock but isn’t specific about which Beer House each was running. However, it may be assumed that ‘The Falcon Inn’ was run by Elizabeth Lockley and Martha Lloyd until Elizabeth married Samuel Cooper in 1844. Elizabeth and Samuel appear on the 1851 Census as Victuallers at ‘The Falcon Inn’. They remained at ‘The Falcon Inn’ until Samuel’s death in 1863.

Samuel Cooper
First recorded Post Master

Samuel Cooper was also Hinstock’s first recorded Post Master. Letters and parcels were left at, or collected from, ‘The Falcon Inn’ throughout Samuel’s tenancy there. Richard Marsh succeeded Samuel Cooper and he was succeeded by William Sale in 1879.

1879
William Sale

William Sale was not only ‘Inn Keeper’ at ‘The Falcon Inn’, he was also an Assistant Overseer of the Poor and Surveyor of Roads. ’The Falcon Inn’ was reported as ‘in good repair and clean’ at this time. It had four rooms downstairs and six upstairs. The upstairs rooms could accommodate six lodgers. Six horses could be accommodated by night, twelve during the day and it was a Free House.

Up to 1918
Changing Times

Tom Lowe followed William Sale, Thomas Higginson followed Tom Lowe. Thomas Higginson was also an organist at St Oswald’s Church in Hinstock. William Somerfield took over ‘The Falcon Inn’ in 1909 and the changing times are reflected in the services provided there. Kelly’s Directory indicates that William Somerfield was Inn Keeper and also provided ‘good accommodation at The Falcon for cyclists and motorists, petrol and oil stocked, saddler, harness maker, fancy and leather goods manufacturer’. William Somerfield died in 1918 at ‘The Falcon Inn’ and was succeeded by George Hulme.

1926-1944
The Wrekin Brewery Company

Leslie Gregory became Inn Keeper in 1926. William Lalley became Inn Keeper at ‘The Falcon Inn’ after Leslie Gregory. During William Lalley’s tenure, ‘The Falcon Inn’ had a telephone installed with the phone number Sambrook 13X1. The Four Crosses also had a telephone with the number Sambrook 13Y3. William Lalley died in 1944 and his widow, Annie took over the running of ‘The Falcon Inn’. At the time of William’s death his Estate was valued at £2,156. Annie retired, sold ‘The Falcon Inn’ to The Wrekin Brewery Company, married in 1965 and moved to Woodseaves where she died in 1994.

1970
George Lawson

In 1970 ’The Falcon Inn’ was purchased by George Lawson.

1970 to 1976
Ron and June Lawson

Ron and June Lawson were licensees from 1970 to 1976 having taken over the business from Reg and Betty Wainwright. Their daughter, Kate, was born at The Falcon Inn in 1971. Ron extended the bar area by building an extension on the north of the property for extra seating and toilets and utilised the southern end of the pub (from the main entrance to a small kitchen, now a storage room) to accommodate a 60 cover restaurant. Basket meals and Sunday Roasts were the Falcon Inn's speciality.

1982 - 1984
Sheila, Tony and 'Flash Flanaghan'

The Falcon Inn was owned by Sheila and Tony Haywood from 1982 until 1984 and had purchased it for £82,000. The pub was a Free House. They employed a chef, Parah Flanagan, known to everyone as 'Flash Flanaghan'.

1990s and 2000s
Welcoming Atmosphere

Local knowledge has Bob Gay as the landlord in the 1990s and he was succeeded by Ainley and Janet Jones who resided there until 2001. The onset of Parkinson’s Disease forced Ainley to give up the pub trade. Tony and Sue Tong were at ‘The Falcon Inn’ until 2004 when they emigrated to Cyprus. Tony completed the barn conversion adjacent to ‘The Falcon Inn’. A local consortium acquired ‘The Falcon Inn’ from Tony and Sue and installed James Prengell as manager to run the business on their behalf. In 2008, The Falcon Inn was sold to Enterprise Inns and James was their first tenant. Unfortunately, the pub followed the typical PubCo spiral of decline and frequent changes of tenants.

2015
Madeleine Gilles

In 2015 Madeleine Gilles bought ‘The Falcon Inn’ from Enterprise Inns and remains its owner to this date. Her last tenants left suddenly in December 2022 and ‘The Falcon Inn’ has been closed since. A local group formed in February 2023, determined to save ‘The Falcon Inn' for the Hinstock community.

2023
The Falcon Inn Community Pub Limited

The Falcon Inn Community Pub Limited signed a lease on Friday 1st September 2023, thereby becoming Tenants of The Falcon Inn.