Until recently our research into the Inns of Langford had concluded that both The Langford Inn, formerly The White Hart Inn, and the Green Dragon Inn (located close by Richmond House)  were flourishing in the late 1600’s as revealed by the accommodation entry in the Inns and Alehouses ledger of 1686 ( see Gallery ).

We now have evidence that both Inns were in existence even earlier from entries in a Langford Manor village survey dated 1636!   A  page from this survey is reproduced in the Gallery section, which amongst others, details the entry for The Green Dragon.

We are in the process of transcribing the surveys, and hope to publish these in the near future as we believe these documents will be a valuable aid for family history studies.

The entry for the Green Dragon Inn shows that the tenant was John Phippen age 35 years, and that in addition to the Inn, the holding included a “backside”, a tennis court, two gardens, two very good orchards in 20 acres of well wooded grounds. It is quite probable that this holding embraced part of the grounds of Langford House.

John Young, age 55,  and his wife, age 46, were tenants of The White Hart Inn ( now known as The Langford ) which included a “backside”, a garden, a very good orchard in well wooded 18 acres of land.

The Green Dragon ceased to trade around 1740, but The Langford is still going strong today, and once again can offer hospitality and accommodation to the weary traveller!

There are records of a third inn at Langford, which appears to have started at the end of the 18th Century as The Mendip Volunteer with a Thomas Reed as the landlord. It is possible that the inn was set up by John Hiley Addington as an alehouse for his volunteers recruited to fight off Napoleon.

Although the precise location of the inn is not certain, it was most likely located opposite Langford Place. The 1841 Census shows a Robert Hacker as a publican occupying  plot 142,  which is opposite the end of Saxon Street. From a study of the recognizances for this inn, it appears to have briefly changed its name to The Volunteer in 1822, and The Valiant Soldier a year later, before reverting to its original name. By the 1851 Census there is only one publican listed for Langford (Thomas Fenwick at The Langford Inn), so it is most likely the The Mendip Volunteer had ceased trading by this time.