Description:This postcard view shows the Littleton Arms on the corner of Clay Street and St Michael’s Square in Penkridge. In this scene the sign over the entrance is Littleton Arms Hotel and there is an early motor car parked by the steps.
The Littleton Arms was built by Sir Edward Littleton as a replacement for his two inns, the Old Swan and the King’s Arms. Sir Edward started paying bills for the building in 1792, when it had the provisional name of "the new King’s Arms". The bills continued until 1794/5 by which time its name had changed first, to “the New Inn” and then, “The Littleton Arms”. One Thomas Wood was paid for putting up the inn’s sign in 1794.
Although some American plank was used in its construction, the Littleton Arms was mainly built of local materials by local craftsmen. In September 1792, 130,000 bricks from Penkridge Kiln were unloaded for its building. Teddesley estate oaks were used. Even hair, scraped from animal skins at the Mill Street Tan yard, was used in the plastering.
The Littleton Arms cost Sir Edward about £600. As he received only 12 guineas a year in rent, a return of only 2%, it has been suggested that it was built for reasons of prestige rather than profit.
A set of stables, similarly well built, were nearby on the other side of Church Lane. They were demolished by his successor, Lord Hatherton, in 1842, after being made redundant by the coming of the railway in 1837. The “spacious old inn yard in front of the inn” was removed in 1844. The Littleton Arms has survived to the present day (January 2021) despite the gloomy prognostication of Lord Hatherton that the railway had “completely ruined my inn”.
Sources: Sir Edward Littleton’s Ledger D260/M/E/119, (Staffordshire Record Office).
Hatherton Journal, 1842, 1844 (Staffordshire Record Office).
Sir Edward Littleton's Financial Affairs, 1742 – 1812 (Staffordshire Record office).
Kathleen Wain, Ph. D. thesis, 1975 (William Salt Library Stafford).
This postcard was published by Mrs G F Bate.