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Cap & Feathers, Tillingham

Cap & Feathers, Tillingham - tied to Trumans

Cap & Feathers, Tillingham - tied to Trumans

Kindly provided by Colleen

Cap & Feathers, Tillingham

Provided by Barry Hilliard

"The Cap and Feathers stands on some of the oldest ecclesiastical property in the land. It was in the Sixteenth Century that the tithes of Tillingham were given to the Cathedral of St. Paul.

As a place of hostelry its history can be traced back to the Twelfth Century when if was a pilgrim's lodging house..

In the Sixteenth Centuryit became the village inn though how the Cap and Feathers came to be its name is a matter of pure conjecture..

The old part of the inn fronts Vicarage Lane and it here that the plaster structure may be suspect, for certainly this section has an odd bulbous look, with the appearance of sagging being emphasised by a curving chimney stack! The Cap and Feathers retains a great deal of the past but caters very much for the present. Its fame for miles is the "ploughman's snack". Where once the land worker chewed a loaf of bread and a chunk of cheese before taking nourishment from a pint pot, now stand duffle-coated engineers from Bradwell power station, sales representatives and insurance agents consuming thick slices of bread, ham, cheese, sausages, pies and hot dogs.

Licensee Mr. Anthony Hilliard has been well rewarded for the pains he took to build up a suitable lunch-time snack service.

Mr. Hiliard has also done a great deal to improve the decor of his bars where the dominant feature is the old oak beams.

The "regulars" say it is impossible to knock a nail into the beams. One beam in the saloon was bevelled so that a farmer could walk through the passage there at the time without having his hat knocked off!

There is a large collection of brasses and curios in the saloon where the somewhat unusual corner-piece is a stuffed bear, the knife that cut him open, and a photograph of his heart!

Old lamps, now electrically operated, can be found all over he place. The biggest, of moulded brass, came from the Dengie Church

Above the saloon is a very old clubroom used evry month by the local Odd Fellows. At one time Tillingham Football Club used to change at the inn.

Known by the locals as "The Feathers" and by some of the newcomers from Bradwell as "The Camp," Tillingham's oldest inn is still very much the focal point for village wisdom.

No doubt what he heard in "The Feathers" provided much in the way of material for the late Mr. S. L. Bensusan, writer of the Essex marshland, who used Tillingham folk and the village in so many of his stories."

From the Maldon and Burnham Standard, November 24, 1960. Provided by Barry Hilliard.

Residents at this address

The licensee in 1806 was recorded on the Alehouse Recognizances as Robert Willsmer, at the Feathers.

1839/Robert Willsmer/../../../Pigots

1841/Robert Willsmer/Publican/25/Essex/Census*
1841/Sarah (nee Coster) Willsmer/../20/Essex/Census
1841/Harriet Coster/../15/Essex/Census
1841/Joseph Gover/Commercial Traveller/30/../Census
1841/George Pile/Commercial Traveller/35/../Census
1841/Rebecca Pile/../20+/../Census
1841/Hannah Read/../15/Essex/Census
1841/Henry Hunicks/Colt Buster(?)/20/Essex/Census
1841/Samuel Griggs/Agricultural Labourer/15/../Census
1841/William Headborn/Hairdresser/15/Essex/Census

Note: Robert Willsmer died shortly after the 1841 census. Sarah remarried George Vinson 4 years later*

1845/George Vinson/../../../Post Office

1848/George Vinson/../../../Whites

1851/Mrs. Sarah Ann Vinson/../../../Post Office

1851/John Moss/innkeeper/53/Great Totham, Essex/Census ***
1851/Mary Ann Moss/wife/53/Brentwood, Essex/Census
1851/Mary Ann Moss/daughter/23/West Ham, Essex/Census
1851/Nancy Ellen Moss/daughter/17/West Ham, Essex/Census
1851/John Moss/son, scholar/11/East Horndon, Essex/Census
1851/James Nunn/groom/25/Glemsford, Essex/Census
1851/Sarah Pamplin/house servant/20/Asheldham, Essex/Census
1851/William Heard/lodger (infirm), late ag lab/79/Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Essex/Census
1851/George Death/lodger, thatcher/22/Wormingford, Essex/Census

1855/W. Dixey/../../../Kellys**

1861/John H. Turner/Farmer & Innkeeper/38/St. Lawrence, Essex/Census*
1861/Charlotte Turner/Wife/30/Tudbury, Suffolk/Census
1861/Richard H. Turner/Son/4/Tillingham, Essex/Census
1861/John H. Turner/Son/3/Tillingham, Essex/Census
1861/Charlotte Turner/Daughter/4m/Tillingham, Essex/Census
1861/Hannah Hitchin/Nurse/42/Maldon, Essex/Census
1861/George Turner/Groom/22/Ash, Bocking, Essex/Census
1861/Sarah Carter/House Servant/14/Tillingham, Essex/Census
1861/Isaac Spurgin/Lodger, Bricklayer/44/Tollesbury, Essex/Census

1862/John Harrison Turner/Farmer/../../Kellys

1867/John Harrison Turner/Farmer/../../Post Office

1870/John Harrison Turner/Farmer/../../Kellys

1871/John Harrison Turner/Farmer/../../Post Office

1874/Arthur George Rayner/../../../Kellys

1878/Arthur George Rayner/../../../Kellys

1881/Charles Everett/Licensed Victualler/53/Tolleshunt DArcy, Essex/Census
1881/Sarah Everett/Wife/54/Cold Norton, Essex/Census
1881/Emily Everett/Daughter, Barmaid/21/Tolleshunt DArcy, Essex/Census
1881/Mary Ann Everett/Daughter, Barmaid/16/Tolleshunt DArcy, Essex/Census
1881/Emma Everett/Daughter/14/Tolleshunt DArcy, Essex/Census
1881/Henry Filbery/Ostler/19/Burnham, Essex/Census

1882/Charles Everitt/../../../Kellys

1886/Charles Everitt/../../../Kellys

1890/Charles Everitt/../../../Kellys

1894/Charles Everitt/../../../Kellys

1895/Charles Everitt/../../../Kellys

1898/William F. Cook/../../../Kellys

1899/William F. Cook/../../../Kellys

1902/William F. Cook/../../../Kellys

1906/William F. Cook/../../../Kellys

1908/William Frederick Allen Cook/../../../Kellys

1910/William Frederick Allen Cook/../../../Kellys

1912/William Frederick Allen Cook/../../../Kellys

1914/William Ladd/../../../Kellys

1917/William Ladd/../../../Kellys

1922/William Ladd/../../../Kellys

1925/William Ladd/../../../Kellys

1929/William Ladd/../../../Kellys

1933/William Ladd/../../../Kellys

1937/Harry Nicholls/../../../Kellys

Mr H S Nicholls, licensee of the Star and Garter, Chelmsford (death recorded). Mr Nicholls prior to taking over the Star and Garter in 1945 was licensee of the Cap and Feathers, Tillingham, for ten years.

1945/Mr H S Nicholls/../../../Black Eagle Journal

1960/Anthony Hilliard/../../../Local Newspaper



* Provided by Caroline Graham

** Provided by the Pubs, Inns and Taverns Index for England, 1801-1900

*** Provided by John Mead

Provided by Alex Wilkinson


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And Last updated on: Tuesday, 17-Jun-2025 23:28:47 BST