spirits of pubs past - the wrestlers
by 1743 the wrestlers inn had the reputation as "the most considerable hostelry in the town" This popularity continued to grow. then in november 1800 Nelson landed in great yarmouth accompanied by Williams and lady hamilton and stayed at the wrestlers. standing at an open window he addressed the excited crowd "i myself am a norfolk man, and i glory in being so". on his departure a request was made by the proprietor, mrs suckling to allow her to call the hotel in future "the nelsons arms", "that would be absurd" said the hero " seeing as i have but one" and " the nelsons hotel" was substituted. in subsequent years there were many changes of ownership even at one time becoming a liquour shop called "the anchor of hope".
referenced in 1674, 1691 and 1774, it continued to trade as a hotel and licenced premisis reducing in size (to just the right hand side third in this picture) in the 1800's and changing names a handful of times, " the wrestlers tap" stood on the north side of row 20, rebuilt in 1945 following damage by enemy action and briefly trading under the name of Hardys in 1993 before returning to "the wrestlers" . this pub was always a thriving buzzing establishment and somewhere i worked back in my student days.
known for its live music and sunday afternoon jammin' sessions it sadly went the way of so many other pubs and closed its dorrs in 2012 and now trades as offices. the pub can still be easily recognised from the pictures and stands diagonally across from the church next to palace bingo about 100 yards away.
spirits of pubs past, a series that originated in norwich. for anyone interested in expanding the series just match the title "spirits of pubs past - (pub name). cheers!
*difficulty due to muggles, please put exactly where found*