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This property is
located on Forest Street, later known as Oates' Hill. The original building
was estimated to have been constructed around 1760.
The earliest reference found so far is from 1822, when the landlord was
Daniel Kirk. There was an inquest held at “the house of Elizabeth Kirk, the
sign of the Woolpack” in 1832 on the death of Ruth Cook, who had been
knocked over by a carrier’s cart.
A short-lived landlord was John Wass, who died at the Crown and Woolpack in
April 1854 after occupying the property for less than two years. The inquest
on his death, held at the Dog & Duck, described him as having “habituated
himself to practices of intemperance and for the last fortnight had been
continuously drunk.” He died after falling down a flight of stone steps
while drunk and hitting his head.
Around the end of the 1870’s, the building was leased to the Mansfield
Brewery for £70 per year. This may have coincided with George Robinson’s
departure as landlord.
In October 1892, the property was put up for sale by auction. It was
advertised as “The FULLY LICENSED and Well Accustomed PUBLIC HOUSE, known as
the Woolpack Inn, in Forest Street, Sutton-in-Ashfield, now in the
occupation of Mr Thomas Caunt”. The lot also included two houses and a shop.
The pub was further described:
“The inn is in the centre of the town, at the junction of and having
excellent frontage to, both Forest Street and Parliament Street, and on the
main road to the Midland Station, and within a stone’s throw of the
projected new stations of the Midland and Great Northern Railways. It
contains bar parlour with serving bar, taproom, two smoke rooms, living
room, kitchen, large clubroom; upstairs sitting room and three bedrooms,
with extensive cellarage, covered yard and necessary out-offices; and at the
back of the cottages, a large open yard with skittle alley and entrance to
the street.”
The Mansfield Brewery bought the building in 1893 for £3,352. It was rebuilt
in the same location around the 1920s, when the brewery was undertaking a
rebuilding programme for their properties. Following the rebuild, the Crown
and Woolpack hosted regular property auctions during the 1930’s and 40’s.
In the 1950’s, the Crown & Woolpack was the headquarters of the Sutton &
Skegby Football League.
The Mansfield Brewery “improved” the property in 1973, and they applied for
planning permission in 1986 for internal alterations. In April 1987 it was
reported as opening for business again after a full refurbishment costing
£160,000.
In April 1999, the Crown & Woolpack was one of the twelve pubs that signed
up for the town’s “Pub Watch” scheme.
By 2009 the Mansfield branding had gone and it was being advertised to let
by Marstons. It was up for sale in 2013, described as a “former public
house”. The property offered 3,000 sq ft (278 sq m) of accommodation,
including a self-contained 5 bedroom apartment on the first floor and a
large function room. A restrictive covenant excluded the building from being
used for the sale of alcohol, gambling or “immoral purposes”.
It was sold in October 2014 and the new owner has applied twice for the
property to be converted into five or six flats. In September 2020 it was
described as an abandoned pub |
