Great Coggeshall pub history index
Residents at this address
The principal of these houses appears to have been the CROWN, which was, as we have seen, an ale-house. It is now the Post Office and the printing and publishing establishment of Mr. Edwin Potter. It is this house that Bufton was referring to when he recorded that, on February 15th, 1692, "There was a bonfire made at the Crown for joy that Squire Honeywood got the day of Sir Eliab Harvey and was not cast out of Parliament ; and when he came home from Chelmsford, the night after he was chosen, abundance of candles were lighted up for joy." But the sign of the Crown in this town dates back to a much earlier period, as will be seen from the extracts from the Court Rolls of Great Coggeshall Manor (ante, p. 112) ; from this document it appears that in the days of Queen Elizabeth (in the year 1567) the owners of the Crown were required to take up the gate in the water lane, and to widen the lane. Where the particular lane was is not now apparent, but as it is known that formerly the water from St. Peter's well used to flow in an open channel down Church Street, it is probable that the Crown, of Queen Elizabeth's time, was on the same site as the present Post Office, if so the water lane referred to was on or near this property.
In connection with the open water-course in Church Street, it may be mentioned that, in 1792, Mr. Fisher Unwin, brewer, laid down pipes under the highway from the well belonging to his malt house in Church Street, for the purpose of conveying water from that well to his brewhouse, called the cellar, at Market End, such pipes being laid with the consent of the Lord arid tenants of the Manor of Great Coggeshall and the inhabitants of the town. This well adjoins the public well, known as St. Peter's Well, in Wain Lane. The sign of the Crown is one of the oldest of English trade signs, and if time had not altered the manners and customs of the people the title page of this book would have announced that it was " Printed and sold by Edwin Potter, at ye sign of ye Crowne, at ye Market End, Coggeshall."
Next to the Crown, proceeding westward, was a house, called MAVESONS or MABSONS, a name probably derived from the person who possessed it upwards of 300 years ago (p. 129); the east part now belongs to Mr. William Mount, but the western part is the more ancient and is of interest, the construction of the uppermost chamber in the roof being somewhat singular.(History of Coggeshall to 1884 by George Fred Beaumont )
Deeds of messuage and public house called the Crown and former site of 2 cottages [demolished prior to 1806] in Coggeshall Lane, Braintree - Essex Record Office Online search.
The licensee in 1792 was recorded on the Alehouse Recognizances as Thomas Dowsing, at the Crown, Great Coggeshall.