Huntsman & Hounds, Spexhall

The licensing records show the pub as the "Hare & Hounds" from the 1870s until the 1960s. The change of name is recorded in the 1960-1967 records, but they don't say exactly when this happened. It seems as if the "Huntsman & Hounds" name may originally have been an unofficial name for the pub, as the licensing records show that the license of the "Huntsman & Hounds" was transferred to the executors of Maria Reynolds on December 10th 1878. But the 1879 licensing records again show it as the "Hare & Hounds". Various historic records also show a pub called the Chequers located in Spexhall. However, when checking the licensing records we find that the landlords named for the Chequers match the licensee for the Hare & Hounds (as the Huntsman & Hounds was then called) in virtually** every detail, so it seems reasonable to assume that the so-called "Chequers" was actually the same pub. This has been confirmed by a local resident who called in to a programme on BBC Radio Suffolk to say that the Chequers had been a short-lived name for the pub. According to Alfred Hedges' book, "Inns & Inn Signs of Norfolk & Suffolk", “The Chequers is undoubtedly a popular & ancient sign & it is a well-known inn at Spexhall. The casual visitor, however, will seek in vain for the familiar sign of the black & white squared chessboard. When he asks the way of a native he may well be surprised to be directed to the Huntsman & Hounds. He could be forgiven for thinking that the sign had been changed recently, yet oddly enough, the Inn has never been known officially as the Chequers. Locally, however, it is invariably called the Chequers, for in days gone by the inn was a customs checking point on the road between Halesworth* & Bungay. Old habits die young in Suffolk”. *The book actually says Harleston, but this is obviously an error. **In 1891-92 Whites Directory both pub names are listed with different landlords? Possibly the directory editors got confused by the changing name. Photographs of this pub and more historical information about it can be found at suffolkcamra.co.uk/pubs/pub/873