200 years ago this week in the Norwich Mercury, it was advertised that James Page and his brewery had financial troubles and so a number of pubs were put up for sale. One of them was the Red Lion in Hindolveston and the newspaper article for this venue read:
“LOT 3. A Public House, in Hindolveston, called the Red Lion, with Stable and other Out-buildings, Yard Garden, and Land belonging, containing three acres more or less, now in the occupation of Sarah Clifton widow.”
The building was purchased by the Fakenham Brewery and then later on that became part of Bullards and they operated this pub until 1963 when it was permanently closed down. I’m not sure when Bullards took over, but in 1871 there was an auction of 13 pubs and this was one of them, so it might have been then. One of the problems that so many country pubs have today is that their land has been reduced down, which stops them either renting land out, using it as a campsite or maybe constructing buildings which might help them finance their operations. I imagine that the three acres that this pub had in 1826 was sold off longer before the pub closed.
And this is it today, what is now a private rental property known as Carwood House. The frontage hasn’t much changed from when it was a pub, with an old photo visible at https://www.norfolkpubs.co.uk/norfolkh/hindolveston/hindorl.htm. This feels like a traditional country pub, it would be quite intriguing to see what it was like 200 years ago when it was sold…..