ARCHIVES: Public Houses
The White Horse
The Gutteridge farming family were the early proprietors of the White Horse. Their family has been researched and if you want to follow the relationships, have a look at the family tree. There were two John Gutteridges, both born in Peckleton. One married Ann and one married Mary. Both had a son Henry and both seem to have lived at the White Horse at some time.
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John Gutteridge, set up the pub on the turnpike in 1846 and his widow, Mary, kept it going until 1862. His son Henry Gutteridge then took over. He was also a threshing machine owner as was his nephew, William Edward Gutteridge who followed him. In 1871 Henry was living at Forest Hill Farm, close by on Leicester Lane. William Edward was born at Alder Hall (in Peckleton Parish). He seems to have been the last of the Gutteridges to combine farming with running the White Horse, although his cousin, William Henry Gutteridge, was landlord of the Blue Bell from 1904-8.
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About 1887 William Hewitt took over at the White Horse, followed briefly by George Paget then Thomas Howgill. Thomas was born in Newbold Verdon and still combined farming with looking after the pub. After his death, his wife, Frances Ann, continued to run it until about 1908. The next landlord was Samuel William Moore, through till 1925. He was followed by Joseph Collins until the mid-30s, then Samuel H Cattermoul until 1941. Following a gap in the directories, Arthur W Clarke was proprietor from 1965 -9. We have no records after this.
In 2015 the pub was purchased by the Pesto chain and converted to an Italian restaurant. It was put on the Local Heritage List in 2019 with the following description:
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A good example of a former rural public house, now in use as a restaurant. It has a largely late-19th century appearance but the earliest reference of a public house on the site is from 1846 in White’s Directory when John Gutteridge, a local farmer, was the licensee. It is illustrative of the social, economic and cultural development of Desford parish providing a typical function within an outlying and predominantly agricultural landscape. Architecturally the building was constructed to a Domestic style typical of a reformed public house of the late 19th century. Interest remains in the tall and dominant red brick chimney stacks, Welsh slate roof covering, terracotta ridge tiles, corbelling to the eaves, and canted brick cills. The building has a visual prominence at the back edge of the road and can be singled out as a landmark within the local street scene. Despite closing as a public house in 2015 the building remains in use as a source of identity and social interaction and provides a communal function for the parish