Site Event/Activity record ECH7275 - The Former Boot and Slipper, Long Lane, Wettenhall, Cheshire, CW7 4DN: Archaeological Monitoring & Recording

Archaeological monitoring was recommended during groundworks for new houses on the site of the former Boot and Slipper public house, unfortunately, the archaeologists were not notified at the start of works and they were unable to fulfill the brief. The inn was used as a thatched coaching inn in the seventeenth century before adopting the name The Royal Oak. The renaming was attributed to an oak tree overlooking the car park, purportedly grown from an acorn taken from the tree that sheltered King Charles II during the English Civil War in 1651. However, it eventually reverted to its original name, The Boot and Slipper. Historical records from 1841 reveal John Berrington as the landlord, with the census listing him and his wife, Elizabeth, as licensees. An incident in August 1882 involving Anne Hitchen, the landlady at the time, sheds light on the pub's past, illustrating a clash with Irish labourers that resulted in property damage and legal proceedings at Eddisbury Petty Sessions. The pub's lore also includes accounts of purported paranormal activity, adding an intriguing dimension to its socio-historical narrative. (1)