Yo ho ho and a bottle of stout;
Nothing is ever what it seems.
Watch out for the Black Spot, me hearties ...
The Admiral Benbow
Number 46 Chapel Street.
It is not shown on the 1908 or 1936 OS map as being a Public House.
The building has the appearance of being earlier than the remainder of the houses in Chapel Street,
perhaps as a cottage of about 1730 but with so much paint and other later details to cover the structure and fabric,
(the roof is quite new, perhaps 1960 or even later) it is hard to be able to date this building with any certainty whatsoever.
Throughout the early census years it most certainly was not an Inn.
To emphasize the point even further the 1830 Pigott's Directory lists Stephen and Harriet Cara, Dyer, here.
One of their children was also Stephen Cara (born 1832), a Master Dyer.
1841 and 1851 It was the home of Stephen Cara, a Silk Dyer.
The 1856 Directory listed Stephen Cara at the same address.
1861 it was the home of Elizabeth Downing, who later by 1864 had opened it as a Lodging House.
1871 to beyond 1891 it was the home of Adeline Daniel, a Straw Hat Maker, and she rented out rooms.
There is even a statement on the internet (which I have heard elsewhere, also)
that it was this Pub that was the inspiration for the Admiral Benbow in Treasure Island.
A slight Comedy of Errors in dating, as Robert Louis Stevenson wrote his novel in 1883.
Certainly there is a wealth of history to be seen in the artefacts hanging in the pub,
but despite it being attractive and full of character - the Pub is really not as old as it is presented.
PS - The Black Spot was a literary invention of Robert Louis Stevenson.
Raymond Forward
