Posted by Phil Wood
on 27/8/2009, 2:48 pm, in reply to "Inns & Pubs of the Civil War"
87.81.252.131
There is not a lot around from that far back. Plenty of books cover the period in passing as they race through the history of pubs to get to the C18th and the start of better records.
Even finding out what inns existed can be difficult. In my area (Newbury, Berks) there are records of publicans (inn/alehouse keepers) but not much of the pubs - because it is the keepers who get fined (amerced) in local court records (leet courts). There is even a lengthy list of keepers from 1643 - days after the 1st Battle of Newbury - but no mention of the names of their houses. 
Occasional inns pop up in wine licenses held at TNA - though coverage is far better for some counties than others. The Houses of Parliament library also has some early wine licenses (1620 or thereabouts).
You might also find mentions of inns in stories of the Civil War (for instance, the Bear in Speenhamland, Newbury, was a short term resting place of Lord Falkland's body following 1st Newbury).
If you are putting together a living history event I'd be interested to see it. As for researching it - check out some of the 'life in Stuart times' type books (members of Sealed Knot or English Civil War Society will surely have some of those you could refer to).
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