The Bunch of Grapes


This 17th century building, now a restaurant and private house opposite the church, was at one time a brewhouse and pub; grain was discovered between the joists when the building was refurbished in 2016. The evidence of the name is the decorated cornice with grape vine leaves and fruit, now painted in green and purple.

I have yet to discover much of its history as by the first census in 1841 it was no longer a licensed premises.


In the 1841 census there was a Mary Chapman, listed a baker, living in that part of the High Street with her two sons, John and William, and a Mary Death. The latter name is conected with bakeries on the site throughout the 20th century, the Deaths and Lasts owning properties there until 1950 when Mark Halsey took over. The right hand part remained a bakery until the 1990s, with a restaurant [now Valentinos] in the left part.



The Bunch of Grapes

The Bunch of Grapes in 2018