The Carpenter's Arms

Inns of this name are known to have existed since at least the 17th century; the name, like others with an occupational name, is thought to relate to an early innkeeper having a second trade - in this case a ‘carpenter’.  

It is not known if this was the case at Tickhill, or exactly how old the Carpenter’s Arms is, but an archaeological survey of 1977 describes it as ‘a difficult building, core looks to be a C17 farmhouse’; in the late 18th or early 19th century, it was altered to incorporate Georgian architectural features.  Baines’ 1822 Directory refers to it as the ‘Old Carpenter’s Arms’, which would suggest that it had not been ‘modernised’ at this date.

The Carpenter’s Arms is situated on the north side of Westgate, and like several other inns in Tickhill, it would have prospered during the coaching era, due to its position on what was then part of the Bawtry to Tinsley Turnpike Road. Peter Hancock would have benefited from this prosperity, for almost half a century, from the 1820s to c1870, he and his son, Henry were the innkeepers. Henry was, first and foremost, a farmer of some 80 acres and he continued to farm after taking over the inn on the death of his father c1856.

Adjacent to the Carpenter’s on the corner of Church Lane and Westgate was ‘Hancock’s Large Room’, a spacious meeting room, which was used for auction sales and public meetings, such as a pro-Corn Laws meeting organised by local landowners and farmers in 1840, and Friendly Society meetings.

Following the 50-year tenure of Peter and Henry Hancock, the Carpenter’s Arms appears to have been taken over by the Rotherham brewery, Slinn, Searle & Co., and the next 100 years saw a regular changeover of landlord; amongst these were William Whinfrey, Frank Goode, Charles Shackel, Mark Bird, W. Morrison, George Green, Arthur Green, George Cooke, and Wilfred Heath, together with long serving post-war licensees, John & Amy Ashton.