Before the Manor House Inn: the White Hart

In accounts of Ditcheat’s pub, an older name turns up alongside Manor House Inn. The usual form in descriptions of the former sign is White Hart. CAMRA’s local branch records White Heart and associates the house with Edmund Dawe, lord of the manor. Anyone searching transcribed records or catalogued photographs has a good reason to try both spellings.

What the date 1861 tells us

The CAMRA account says that the pub was known as the Manor House Inn by 1861. That small word “by” matters. It gives a point at which the later name had come into use, without supplying a date for taking down one sign and hanging another. Equally, the name of the lord of the manor in a later account does not establish a continuous list of publicans or owners.

A family photograph with a name but no date can still hold clues. Look for door openings, the shape of the corner bay, and the church tower in the background. Those features are often more durable than pub furniture, hanging baskets or lettering on a sign. Compare them with a view whose photographer gives a date. The photograph archive includes several perspectives from Wraxall Road.

The manor and the inn in the records

Historic England lists Manor House Inn and Ditcheat House, or Ditcheat Manor, separately. The record for the inn is 1217347. The record for Ditcheat House is 1275484. If a catalogue describes “the Manor House”, check which building, address or landmark accompanies that name before assigning its history to the pub.

A contemporary description can be more informative than a date repeated without an address.