During the reign of James I in 1608, a gentleman by the name of William Bugge built The Bull as his private residence. In 1654 he applied to the Parish for a licence to sell ale. There is a note made in the Parish records that state:

"the inhabitants of Benenden that William Bugge is a suitable person to be licenced to sell ale at his house known as The Bull"

and so, The Bull at Benenden was born.

 

Through the ages from the reign of James I to Queen Elizabeth II The Bull has had its fair share of 'king pins'.

 

For example, looking at the archives, in 1705 The Bull was being used as a meeting place for many of the locals. Sadly, I do not know the name of the landlord or lady of that time, but on the 15th March 1705 there is a mention in the Parish records of a meeting recruiting the men of Benenden for the army, the insert goes as follows:

 

On the 8th November in 1839 Samuel Santer was the Landlord. There is a note in the National Archives stating that John Amon Vidler, who we think was a policeman "arrested a thief who had stolen goods from the tap room belonging to The Bull."

 

In the old days the cellar would not be used for beer, so it wouldn't have come up through the pipes. Back in Samuel Santer's day the beer would have come straight from the barrel, so we can only guess what was stolen, maybe a keg or two!

 

Moving onto Queen Victoria's reign in 1851, a young lady called Mary Santer (possibly Samuel Santer's daughter) married John Cooper and became the Landlady of The Bull. In fact, if you were to walk around St George's graveyard you will see many gravestones with the name 'Santer' on them, as pictured above. There are still Santers that reside locally, but whether it is the same bloodline we do not know.

 

 

 

Both gentlemen played for Kent and the All England Team and I will tell you more about them in another edition, watch this space.

On the wall in the 'Cricket Bar' there is a fantastic framed poster advertising a cricket match between Ticehurst and the All Kent Team against Benenden Village. It tells of a supper prepared by Mr Thompson at The Bull at 6pm. 

 

Isn't it great that all these years later in 2010 The Bull is still responsible for feeding the village cricket team. It is nice to know that some things never change.

 

 

 

 

Below you can see one of our posters from the Cricket Bar.

 

 

In 1910 we had probably our most   infamous landlord (apart from Mark of course) Charles Bucket a.k.a. Charlie.

 

Charlie's legacy lives on, in that we are told by many regulars that he has been known to make the lights flicker and even switch the TV on and off.

 

When you are next sitting in the pub he may well be sitting right next to you, it may be a good idea to raise your glass to Charlie! Cheers Charlie!

 

 

 

 

 

In those days the adjacent coach house would allow the horse and coach dray to deliver the beer, the local farmer would fetch a whole hog to hang in the barn and a local lad would deliver his catch of rabbits. Although some things have changed, it is not too dissimilar to today as we still buy fresh meat from the local farmer and our rabbit man has been supplying The Bull for 40 years.

  

 

After the war in 1964 the proprietor of The Bull was still Sidney Whitman. As you can see from the picture below Mrs Whitman was a keen gardener, in fact most of the car park was garden, one of my dreams for the future!

 

 

The very unusual chinoiserie windows in The Dining Room, we think were added c1850 by the architect Charles Voysey a student of George Devey.

 

George Devey built the St Georges Club in 1881. The St Georges Club sits opposite the Queens Well, which was built to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887.

 

We are extremely proud of the heritage of The Bull. The walls are adorned with old black and white photos of the changes throughout the years.

 

 

The main bar, as it stands today was built in 1930 from honey coloured oak and still has the original green linoleum top in places. In the bar, the brick hood of the inglenook fireplace was built in 1960 and is always roaring in chillier months.

 

The imposing barrel back fireplace in The Dining Room has a predominant bressumer beam which is said to have come from the great ships of the 1500's. They would have docked at the Cinque Ports, our nearest being Tenterden. Next time you visit The Dining Room please take a look at the old carvings of The Rose.

Through the years The Bull has had many visitors and was a regular stop off for The Hawkhurst Gang who reined our area from 1735 to 1749, when smuggling was rife. Sadly, Mark and I have not found any secret tunnels or loot. However, we do have a rabbit warren of cellars which I am sure hold many secrets of their own, along with a load of old junk!

 

   

 Above: Portrait of Kitty Fisher by Sir Joshua Reynolds.

 

You may remember one of our most famous visitors The Queen Mother. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above: The Queen Mother in Benenden 1950

Closer to today, some may remember the old green 'Bull Shed' adjacent to the pub which was the 'Benenden Assembly Rooms' and host to many social engagements, a tradition The Bull still continues today . The entrance to the Bull Shed was via the Public Bar and up until fairly recently the Public Bar and the Saloon Bar were separate and there was a definite divide.

 

Our rabbit supplier was in a Skiffle band 'White Line Fever' that used to play in the old hall in the 1960's. It is rumoured that the band may reform, we will let you know if this happens.