This is the 35th in the series of caches set out to celebrate that wonderful Great British establishment, the pub.
Whilst the pub is sited on the main road from Cirencester to Tetbury, it was the only one in the country to have its own train station; sadly Mr Beeching closed the line in 1964, but the line is now a walking & cycling trail into the nearby town of Tetbury.
The pub was built around 1750 and was originally called the Waggon and Horses, but was later renamed because it had been built on flood-prone land known as "The Troubles" and also for the difficulties which beset a series of innkeepers in the 18th and 19th centuries, including the landlord being taken by a press gang.
The pub was caught up in the agricultural riots of 1830 as local farm labourers vented their displeasure at the introduction of mechanical haymaking and threshing machines. An unlucky farmer transporting a new piece of machinery hidden in a laden hay wagon was spotted in Tetbury and chased by an angry mob who surrounded the wagon outside the pub and set fire to it.
There are claims that in the later 1800’s the pub’s financial fortunes suffered a downturn and the pub fell into disrepair. Tradition holds that an owner at this time embarked on a refurbishment which bankrupted him so he hung himself from a beam in the pub in despair. The half reconstructed building was taken over by another inn keeper who also fell on hard times and drowned himself in a nearby pond. Eventually the pub was purchased by a wealthy local business man who finished the repairs, replacing the thatched roof with Cotswold tiles and re-naming the pub in honour of its tragic history. However, others dispute the legend of suicidal landlords and claim to have accounted for all the pub's landlords in parish records as dying from natural causes!
In 1931 the pub was purchased by a Bristol businessman Frank Wills, who made some major renovations incorporating the stables into the main pub. It was at this time that the pub ghost, the ‘Lady in Blue’, began to make a nuisance of herself. She is rumoured to appear as a very life-like woman with long dark hair (occasionally wearing a hood) in the back-rooms of the pub and likes to move things around. Perhaps she didn’t like the renovations, because she seemed to settle down after 1934 when the pub was sold, although there have been reported sightings of her within the last 10 years!
Many thanks to the current landlords for permission to place the cache on their land.
If you would like to help expand the series by placing your own cache please click the link below
'I can see the pub from here'