Rushton Arms, 28 Wareing Street, Bolton

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This access road running off Deane Road between the STEM Centre on the right and the University Of Bolton's Motor Engineering Centre on the left is all that is left of Wareing Street. The original houses in the area were demolished in the 1960s and replaced by council housing. These were demolished in 2010 when plans were revealed for the conversion of the whole area into Bolton's education quarter.

The Rushton Arms was a typical back-street pub the likes of which have largely died out. It was situated at 28 Wareing Street (sometimes spelled Waring Street) off Deane Road.

Pubs were often named after prominent figures, whether they may be national or local, and it is likely that the Rushton Arms was named after Thomas Lever Rushton, a prominent town councillor. Rushton represented Exchange Ward from 1846 to 1852 and from 1868 to 1874. He was then an Alderman for the ward from 1874 to 1883. Rushton was a solicitor by profession but he also founded the firm of Rushton and Eckersley, an iron forging business whose works occupied land that was later the site of Moor Lane bus station. However, he is best remembered for instigating the construction of the Market Hall which opened in December 1855. That perhaps gives us a clue as to the age of the pub that bore his name.

The Rushton Arms opened in the middle of the 19^th century and the first reference we have is in 1857 when landlord John Smith was up in front of the court accused of having his pub open at twenty to eight on a Sunday morning. Police claimed they had seen six or eight men wait at a side window at the pub and after waiting a short while they were given entry. When the police officers went up to the window a woman shook her head at them but they were given entry anyway. However, no beer was noticed when they entered the pub. The court heard from Jane Askew, John Smith's sister, who had been staying with him for the past three weeks. She claimed to have been cleaning the pub and opened the door to let in some fresh air. Six or eight men walked in but she refused to serve them. They then asked for their wedding glasses (Smith had got married during the week). Smith came downstairs and told them to return at opening time. They then left. Jane Askew then claimed that when she saw the two policemen she shook her head as she did not know them. She also claimed that one of the policemen went round to the back of the pub, let himself in, then let in the other policemen by the front door. The magistrates admitted that there was some doubt in the case and dismissed the charges. [Bolton Chronicle, 18 July 1857].

Smith had left the Rushton Arms by the time of the 1861 census. The pub was occupied at that time by John Cooling along with his wife and a lodger. Later in the 1860s, Thomas Blackley moved in. A former iron moulder he was there until his death in 1879.

A notice appeared in the Bolton Evening News of 24 February 1902 offering the Rushton Arms for sale. At that time the owner of the building had an agreement with the Manchester brewery of J. G. Swales and Co Ltd who leased the pub and installed tenants*. However, the lease was due to expire the following month and the owner of the building decided to sell up. It was stated in the ad that the pub had been under the same ownership for almost half a century. Properties numbered 49, 51, 53, 55 and 57 Wellington Street were also included in the sale. Although all the properties were nominally in separate streets they were effectively one block of buildings. The Rushton Arms' front was in Wareing Street but it was actually the side of the block. The ad describes the pub as a substantial three-storey building that had obviously been built as licensed premises:

“The house has frontages of 41ft 6in and 28ft respectively, is of lofty elevation, good appearance and condition, well fixtured, prominently situated in favourable business position and contains centre lobby, Bar and Vault, Tap Room, Kitchen, Scullery, Assembly Room, six bedrooms, two Landings, five Cellars, Brewhouse, Yard and conveniences and is free from reproach. Apportioned chief rent £3 15s 0d, Contents of site 316 square yards.”

The pub was bought by the firm of J. Hamer who were based at the Volunteer Inn, Bromley Cross. Hamer's were in the process of expanding their tied estate and were always on the lookout for pubs. Their only other outlet in the area was an off-licence in nearby Ellesmere Street.

Hamer's ownership of the Rushton Arms was only brief. In 1913 the licensing justices referred six houses to the compensation authority on the grounds that the pubs were no longer needed and all six closed down later that year. The Rushton had the Corporation Tavern as a neighbour just a back street away along with a whole host of pubs along Deane Road.

The other pubs closed down at that time were the Harp Tavern on Moor Lane, the Foresters Arms on Blackburn Road, the Black Lion on Turton Street, the Phoenix Tavern on Phoenix Street, and the Mount Pleasant Inn on Mill Street.

* Swales supplied a small number of pubs in Bolton. Some of our senior drinkers may remember their products from the Prince William on Bradshawgate or the Lodge Bank Tavern on Bridgeman Street. The brewery and its 38 pubs was bought by Boddington's in 1970.