Historic heritage hunt for Stanley Arms pub in Preston

Stanley Arms Pub is searching for its historic heritage and is asking for help in discovering its ancestry.

 

Stanley Arms Pub, located on Lancaster Road in Preston (Photo credit: Andreea Dulgheru)

Paul Simon Butcher, the owner and manager of the pub, has started this search after discovering the building’s large cellar spaces and the Stanley shield dating back to 1138, which is now welcoming visitors at the entrance.

“We became quite interested in finding out the role of the Stanley family in the Wars of the Roses, WW1 and the Stanley Cup, all the works in Vancouver and Canada, and yeah, it just seemed like a really interesting thing to do, to research the namesake of the pub,” he added.

He started his search for the history of the pub and the Stanley family by posting on Facebook, asking local people on the Preston Past and Present webpage for any information on the ancestry of the pub and the Stanley family.

The Stanley family crest was placed at the entrance of the pub 

(photo credit: Andreea Dulgheru)

In just a few days, he received over 30 responses from citizens in Preston, eager to help trace back the history of the establishment.

Stories discovered include details about the Stanley Cup, that was awarded to the Canadian Ice Hockey League by Lord Fredrick Stanley in 1882, during his time as viceroy of Canada.

Other earlier records of the Stanley family date back to the Wars of the Roses, when Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby played a crucial role in putting Henry Tudor on the throne in 1485. 

However, according to Steve Halliwell, local historian and owner of the Preston’s Inns, Taverns and Beerhouses blog, the Stanley Arms Pub appears in previous records as “Stanley Arms Hotel” (also known as Knowsley Hotel) and was not always in the same location it is today. 

Advertisement for the Stanley Arms Pub 

(then known as Stanley Arms Inn) in 1871

 (Photo credit: Steve Halliwell)

"The current Stanley Arms was preceded by another of the same name and was situated on Church Street at a time when Lancaster Road didn't open out into Church Street. It was demolished and re-erected to its current position," he says. 

Butcher continues to search for more information as he feels it’s his privilege and responsibility as owner and manager of the pub, to know about the history of the establishment and the Stanley family tree and heritage.

“I’m hoping to find a little bit more about the role of the Stanley Family in the Crusades, possibly a little bit more about the Stanley Family through Elizabethan and Georgian times, see if there’s been any big battles and big changes in English history that they were part of then," he says.

He is planning to use all the historic information, pictures and material to further build the image of the pub and bring back a bit of history into the modern world.

"We're going to get some pictures downstairs of some of the Stanley family history and the history of the pub, we'll probably put something on our website as well. 

The Stanley Arms pub is open from 12:00 to 23:00

 (photo credit: Andreea Dulgheru)

"We don't plan to do a tremendous amount with it. We're not going to put an exhibition or anything like that, it's more like owner of the pub, it's nice to know how it has been in the past and obviously the namesake of the Stanley family as well," Butcher added.

Anyone who knows more about this is encouraged to post on the Preston Past and Present Facebook page.