No.33 High Street

Hotel History

Hairdressers

Notes

• Fronting the High Street at the end of Palace Street, the Rutland Arms Hotel was built in 1815.
  
  On the brickwork wall to the right of the archway leading into cobbled courtyard are some names deeply incised in the red bricks, of the mid-19th Century jockeys and stablelads.
  
  During that Century the hotel was, as the courtyard suggests, a posting inn where travellers stayed the night and changed horses on their way to London or Norwich.
  
  The property was formerly known as The Ram Inn (see below for further details), but was renamed after the Duke of Rutland, at that time Lord of the Manor of Newmarket.

• http://www.newmarketjournal.co.uk/news/latest-news/rutland-arms-sold-in-163-4-million-deal-1-542349
  
  

  Newmarket Journal Rutland Arms sold in £4 million deal Published on 14/12/2005 Newmarket's historic Rutland Arms Hotel has been sold in a deal worth more than £4 million. The 46-bedroom hotel, which stands on part of the site once occupied by the Newmarket palace of King Charles II has been bought by the Swallow Hotels group, the fastest growing hotel company in the UK. Swallow also acquired Mildenhall's Riverside Hotel earlier this year. The Rutland Arms, which has a three-star AA rating was previously owned by Peter Hobday who bought it in 2000 having formerly owned two hotels in Fakenham. Deputy manager Stephanie Carvell said: "We intend further enhancing the reputation we have locally for high standards of food and service. "It's been a very successful hotel for many years and we intend building on that by introducing the Swallow way of working which guarantees maximum satisfaction for all our customers." Over the past five years the hotel has undergone a programme of extensive refurbishment. Two years ago planning permission was granted for a 1 million scheme to put a glass roof over the courtyard of the building, parts of which date back to the 18th century when it was famous as a coaching inn. Swallow Hotels is part of London and Edinburgh Inns Ltd which is now Scotland's biggest hotelier and the fifth largest such group in the UK. It currently owns 16 hotels in East Anglia.

  
  
• The archway on right side of the frontage that is now Carriageways restaurant was originally the exit from the central courtyard used by the coaches, at one time it had a plate signifying 'no right of way'.
  
  
• The High Street entrance used to have a porter's box, similar to a sentry box just inside.
  
  
• The present-day pillared entrance on the High Street wasn't always there - on older photos (shown below) the frontage just had windows.
  
  
• 
  Reproduced courtesy of Francis Frith.
  
  
• 
  Reproduced courtesy of Francis Frith.
  
  

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• Henry & Jane Taylor

• Henry Taylor (born 1856 Margate, Kent) and Jane (nee Creedon) (born 1857 Blackford, Somerset) were married in 1884 in London, they) run the Rutland Arms Hotel from about 1900 until at least 1929.
  
  Eldest son Henry (known as "Pip"), married Daisy, the couple didn't have any children.
  
  Other children of Henry and Jane were Robert S Taylor (born 1889 Kensington) and Edith A Taylor (born 1890 Kensington).
  
  Ferd (Ferdinand Creedon Taylor) was the youngest boy (born 1891 Kensington) - in 1901 he was living apart from his family in a nursing hostelry in Cambridge. He is shown running the hotel in the 1936 Newmarket Directory.
  
  Whether the Frederick Craven Taylor shown in the other trade directories above was related to this family is unknown, but the name and date crossovers with Ferdinand are curious.
  
  

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• Fred Archer and Nellie Rose Dawson

• Shown below are some details about the famous jockey Fred Archer, who married Helen (Nellie) Rose Dawson (daughter of trainer John Dawson)  and their wedding reception at the Rutland Arms Hotel.
  
  

  Nellie Rose Dawson & Fred Archer Wedding Invitation 1883 [photo courtesy of Newmarket Journal's Newmarket Memories Facebook page]

  
  

  On January 31, 1883, Fred James Archer married Miss Helen (Nellie) Rose Dawson, eldest daughter of Mr John Dawson of Warren House, and niece of Mr Matthew Dawson the trainer. 'The ceremony was performed at All Saints’ Church, by the then Vicar, Rev. T.R. Govett, assisted by his curate, Rev. R.J. Corke, in the presence of large concourse of spectators, including visitors from many other towns and even from London, by whom the day is, doubtless, still well remembered. The youthful pair, before whom a long and happy career seemed to lie, having departed for Torquay to spend the honeymoon, the wedding festivities were kept up on an almost regal scale. A ball was given at the Rutland Arms Hotel, by Mrs J. Dawson; the stable lads of Messrs. M. Dawson and C. Archer, to the number of 80, were regaled with a supper; and a prize bull, presented to Archer by Lord Hastings, was roasted whole on the Severals, and was distributed together with bread and beer to numerous ticket holders.'

  
  Further details about Fred and Nellie can be found on the page for the Dawson family.
  
  

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• Thomas Bacon

• Thomas Bacon didn't stay long at the Rutland - he's shown here on the 1861 census, but come 1864 the Duke of Rutland had leased the hotel for 50 years to Alfred Maddick of Regents Park.
  
  

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• William Ratcliff / Ratliff

• William Ratcliff was from Leamington, Warwickshire - for more details about him and his surname name variations see the page for No.156-160 High Street - Ratcliffe House where he later lived.
  
  

  Cambridge Chronicle and Journal Friday 24 September 1824 RUTLAND ARMS INN, NEWMARKET. WILLIAM RATLIFF most respectfully informs the nobility, gentry, and public, that he has entered upon the above INN, where every possible attention will be paid to the comfort and convenience of those who may honor him with their patronage. The POSTING Department will be conducted with every possible attention to safety and expedition. No expense will be spared selecting WINES of the first flavour and quality, nor in any thing that can contribute to the satisfaction of his patrons.

  
  

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• The Dukes of Rutland

• The family's association with Newmarket goes all the back to Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, who leased the former King's Closes in Newmarket off George I in July, 1721 (see the page for Charles II's Palace for more details). Inheritance of the land passed down through his daughter Frances and eventually into the Manners family - the Dukes of Rutland. The family's other honorary title, the Marquess of Granby, clearly shows another association with Newmarket.
  
  Commisioned in 1815 (just after the Battle of Waterloo) by John Henry Manners, the 5th Duke of Rutland, the construction of the Rutland Arms Hotel was the work of John Kent (a builder at Wantage), the grandfather of another John Kent, trainer to Lord George Cavendish Bentinck. John Kent Snr. was also the architect of the Jockey Club New Rooms in Newmarket.
  
  

  John Henry Manners, 5th Duke of Rutland

  The 6th Duke of Rutland, Knight of the Garter; Charles Cecil John Manners, lived at Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire, but had very extensive property interests in Cambridgeshire, including Cheveley Park and much land in the neighbourhood, amounting to more than 6,500 acres, in addition to his Leicestershire land holdings of over 30,000 acres.
  
  In the 1881 Census return for Belvoir Castle, in addition to the family and various guests, there were listed 43 servants of one sort or another.
  
  As well as the Rutland Arms Hotel the Manners family also rebuilt All Saints' Church, Newmarket, in 1876/77.
  
  
  
  

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• The Ram Inn

• Chapman's Map of Newmarket 1787

• The following two articles offers an explanation as to how the Ram Inn was named:-
  
  

Racing life of Lord George Cavendish Bentinck, M.P. and other reminiscences (1892) NEWMARKET AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CENTURY. A few words explaining how I came to be a trainer of race-horses may perhaps be not unacceptable to those of my readers in whom a taste for the past predominates over (what is far more usual) a taste only for the present. It would by many be deemed a sufficient reason for me to say that I was born at Newmarket, and that my father and grandfather had lived there for more than sixty years before I came into existence. My grandfather was a builder by profession, and constructed a considerable number of the principal houses and other buildings, including stables, in what has long been erroneously called, " The famous little town in Cambridgeshire " - erroneously, because only half of it is in Cambridgeshire, the other half being, as everyone knows, in Suffolk. Among the buildings for which my grandfather was responsible may be included " The Rooms," of which a Mr Parrs, who also kept a school, was for a long time lessee and manager. In addition to " The Rooms," my grandfather also built what is now called the " Rutland Arms Hotel," on the site occupied by which another inn (of far inferior size and pretensions, and called " The Ram ") formerly stood. I have often been told by my old friend Mr J. F. Clark, the ex-racing judge, that viewed as an edifice, the Rutland Arms is well calculated to confer credit upon its builder, as the brickwork is a very excellent specimen of neatness and stability. Mr J. F. Clark's authority on everything connected with Newmarket has long been acknowledged to be quite unexceptionable; and the fact that, in addition to being a racing judge, he has for many years followed the profession of an architect, lends additional weight to his opinion on such a subject. Previous to the erection of the Rutland Arms, which was commenced a few months after the battle of Waterloo, the Ram Inn, its predecessor, took its name from an incident connected with the strange, eventful history of the eccentric Earl of Orford, about whom so many queer tales were told. It is well known that on one occasion Lord Orford drove his favourite team, consisting of four stags, from Houghton Hall, his country seat in Norfolk (after which, by the way, the Houghton meeting is called), into Newmarket, a distance of about twenty-nine miles. When he was approaching his destination, the Essex Hounds chanced to cross the road along which he had passed just before, and catching up the burning scent of the four stags, they immediately gave chase. As they drew near to the vehicle, their loud notes, or what fox-hunters call "their music," alarmed the stags, which galloped at full speed into the little town, and dashed into the wide-open portals of the inn which stood on the site subsequently occupied by The Ram. The doors were immediately closed, and the lives of the stags saved from their eager pursuers. This occurrence happened about the middle of last century, and was the cause of the name, " Ram Inn," being bestowed upon this noted hostelry and posting-house. In 1775, it was kept by a Mr Barber, who hailed from the Bull Inn at Barton Mills - the last stage on approaching Newmarket from the Suffolk side, and close to which Sir Charles Bunbury's seat, Barton Park, was situated. Many famous racehorses were bred there by the Baronet in question, who lived to be the senior member of the Jockey Club, and Father of the British Turf Sir Charles Bunbury, who was an excellent sportsman, died in 1820, and owned in his time some famous horses, such as Bellario, Eleanor (winner of the Derby and Oaks), and Smolensko, the winner of the Two Thousand, the Newmarket stakes, and Derby. I have often heard Admiral Rous recount that the first race for the Two Thousand ever seen by him was that won by Smolensko, in 1813. It is a thrice-told tale that, after the Derby, Sir Charles gave Goodisson three ten-pound notes for winning the three races ; remarking to him that he could not afford more because Brograve, a celebrated bookmaker of that day, had committed suicide, from inability to meet his Derby losses, including a large sum due to Sir Charles. Mr Barber was succeeded, in 1778, by Mr Daniel Potter, who reigned for many years, and did not die until 1813, after which date his widow continued the hotel until 1828, when Mr Ratcliffe took it. It was in the hands of Mr Daniel Potter and his widow for thirty-five years. Mr Potter was an extremely stout man, and in his day there resided at Newmarket a man of the name of Robert Bones, who was very tall, and as thin as a rail. These two notabilities were talking together at the entrance to the Rutland Arms, immediately opposite to the shop of Mr Rogers, the stationer and printer, who was also a clever sketcher. With a few skilful touches of his pencil, Mr Rogers took the portraits of these two eccentric individuals, and a few hours afterwards placed the sketch in his shop window, with the words " Flesh and Bones" inscribed beneath. I remember hearing my father say that for a short time this caricature afforded intense amusement to passers-by.



• http://archive.org/details/racinglifeoflord00kent
  
  
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_George_Bentinck
  
  
•  

Newmarket: its sports and personalities by Frank Silzter. Published 1923 '... we come to the Ram Inn, now the Rutland Arms. The origin of the first name is interesting. About 1750 there stood in this spot an earlier inn, name unknown. The eccentric Earl of Orford of that day was driving his team of four stags from his country seat, Houghton Hall in Norfolk, to Newmarket, a distance of about twenty-nine miles; when nearing his destination the Essex Hounds chanced to cross the road along which he had previously passed, and catching up the burning scent of four stags, they immediately took the line. The music of the hounds naturally alarmed the stags, which galloped off at full speed into the town and dashed through the gates of this inn yard. These were at once closed and the stags saved from their eager pursuers. Shortly after this happened the old inn was pulled down and a new one built which received the name of " Ram Inn " in memory of the incident.'



• (See below in the Photos section for this article on pages 113 & 114 from 'Newmarket its sports & personalities'.)
  
  
• George Walpole, 3rd Earl of Orford (2 April 1730 – 5 December 1791),
  the third Lord Orford was extravagant, eccentric and eventually died insane.
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Walpole,_3rd_Earl_of_Orford
  
  According to the above Wikipedia article George lived at Houghton Hall from 1751, so this incident must have happened some time after this.
  
  
• Another curious anecdote about the Ram Inn:-
  
  

East Anglia odd burials: Newmarket, Suffolk: A burial at a crossroads is noted in the 'Bury and Norwich Post' of November 25th 1784, but without mentioning the location. This was of a man named John White, a servant at the Ram Inn, who hanged himself.

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• The Cutting Room

• Tucked right up against Palace Street, facing onto the Rutland Hill there's a door into a room that although it's fully enclosed within the Rutland Arms Hotel building is a totally separate business. Originally occupied for many years by the hairdressers Richard Haircraft, in January 2016 one of its employees; Samantha Corbett, took over the lease and renamed the business 'The Cutting Room'.
  
  http://www.newmarketjournal.co.uk/news/samantha-takes-two-top-awards-1-710080
  
  

  Apprenticeship Case Study: Sam Corbett - 17th March 2016 [click on the above image for more details]

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• Bill Tutte

• Bill Tutte was born on May 14, 1917 at Fitzroy House in Newmarket.
  His work at the Government Codes and Cipher School at Bletchley Park, was responsible for cracking the German Lorenz code during WWII.
  In 1922, when Bill was five years old and the family were living in Cheveley, his father got a job as a gardener at The Rutland Arms Hotel.
  Bill's decoding work was credited with shortening WWII by a least two years, saving millions of lives and he is being honoured with a memorial to be sited on the Rutland Hill in front of the hotel.
  
  
• Newmarket Local History Society - Professor William Tutte FRS (1917 - 2002):-
  http://www.newmarketlhs.org.uk/personalities4.htm
  
  
• The Bill Tutte Memorial Fund:-
  http://www.billtuttememorial.org.uk/memorial.htm
  
  

Bill Tutte Memorial in construction - 28th August 2014

Iconic Bill Tutte Memorial - 18th September 2014

The Rutland Arms Hotel & Bill Tutte Memorial 2014

Image of Bill Tutte 'encoded' into the Memorial 2014

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• Building Changes

• Suffolk Record Office, Bury St Edmunds Branch
  Newmarket Urban District Council Records
  Reference EF 506
• Four garages, Rutland Arms Hotel, High St, for Mrs Jane Taylor (William Stuart, Newlyn House, Aldgate High St, London El) EF 506/6/1/21/766 Oct 1926
• Stabling, etc, Rutland Arms Hotel, posting yard, for the executors of Col McCalmont (Holland & Sons) EF 506/6/1/8/130 Jan 1903
• Harness room and stores, Rutland Arms posting yard, for Charles Stebbing EF 506/6/1/5/256 (1900)
  
  
• Suffolk Record Office, Bury St Edmunds Branch
  Records of Messrs Ennions, Solicitors, Newmarket
  Reference HB 517
  
• Rutland Arms Hotel [High Street] HB 517/A/52 28 May 1864
  Contents:
  Lease for 50 years from the Duke of Rutland to Alfred Maddick of Regents Park (Mx), gent
  
• Stable beside Rutland Arms Lane or Ram Lane. [Wrapper says in Palace Street] HB 517/A/64 1827-1834
  Related information: [See also HB 517/A/67]
  Contents:
  Evidences of title for purchase by Samuel Westley of Newmarket (Cambs), carpenter from James Edwards of Newmarket, training groom, 17 amd 18 Oct 1834
  Includes: - plan on 1834 lease and release
  
  

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• English Heritage Listed Building Details:-
  http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-275671-rutland-arms-hotel-newmarket-suffolk
  
  

Rutland Arms Hotel Grade: II Date Listed: 28 November 1950 English Heritage Building ID: 275671




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• Many thanks to Tony Pringle for his information about the history of the pub and the photos 'Rutland 1931' and 'Rutland Hotel c. 1890'.
  
  
• Many thanks to Shaun Doherty for the photograph 'Erecting of a flag pole at the Rutland Arms Hotel c. 1950s', the photograph was taken by Tom Doherty who was Head Waiter at The Rutland for many years.
  
  
• Many thanks to 'Old Newmarket' for the photos 'The Courtyard Rutland Arms Hotel c. 1890', 'Rutland Arms c. 1905',
  'The Courtyard Rutland Arms Hotel 1912', 'The Rutland Arms Hotel c. 1968' and 'The Rutland Arms Hotel c. 1970'.