Description:The Cross Keys was built where Deadman’s Lane crossed the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. In 1872 it was designated a Beer House with an annual value of £21.
LANDLORDS
Joseph Evans, 1871-1874 licencee, owner Thomas Kent of Shugborough
Mary Evans, 1874
William Evans, 1880-1883
Edward Wootton, 1883-1885
Joseph Holt, 1885-1892
George Frape, 1892- 1900
Arabella Frape, 1900-1901
1901 owner Mrs. Brookfield, Stafford, lessees Eley's Stafford Brewery
1901-1908 Walter Henry Evans, owner Wm Blencoure and Co. Ltd, The Brewery, Cannock
Charles Harvey 1908
James Morgan 1909-1920
Elizabeth Morgan 1920
William Henry Rushton 1921- 1939
1926 owner Butler and Co. Springfield Brewery Wolverhampton
“Walking out of Penkridge to Otherton, the houses ended at the bottom of Francis Green Lane. Between there and the Cross Keys there were only two buildings, a farmhouse and a house just opposite it. The Cross Keys had no water supply and they got it from a spring just down the lane, down a couple of steps. To get to the Cross Keys from Boscomoor Lane you had to cross two fields, Filance Field, over an iron stile and then the field which belonged to the pub. This became difficult when they ploughed the field.”
[Cross Keys in the 20s and 30s – Jack Tweed in 1994, "The Good Old Grit", Robert Maddocks, 1995