A Nottinghamshire Pub

Photo:The Plough Inn

The Plough Inn

Samuel Hieronymus Grimm, 1792

Photo:The Old Plough Inn, Egmanton

The Old Plough Inn, Egmanton

Closed, 2011

By Ralph Lloyd-Jones

Samuel Grimm (1733 - 1794) was a Swiss artist who worked for the Rector of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Richard Kaye (1736 - 1809), drawing many pictures in the county in the second half of the 18th Century. The collection is now in the British Library, but can be accessed and seen in detail at www.bl.uk/onlinegallery.

On a trip north in 1792, Grimm made the picture shown, previously only identified as 'The Plough Inn, Sherwood Forest'. (Note the actual plough hanging up by way of an inn sign).

This is clearly The Old Plough Inn at Egmanton which has recently ceased trading and faces an uncertain future. That has been the fate of thousands of public houses, many of them historic, which have closed down during the last few years. 

When Grimm drew his picture The Plough had most likely already been in business for at least a hundred years. It survived for over two centuries more, only to perish recently. 

This page was added by Ralph Lloyd-Jones on 20/10/2011.
Comments about this page

I think another factor in the decline of pubs is we have lived through a period of de-industrialisation over recent decades and in some instances the pub, with its traditional social activities, is more associated with our industrial past. There is also an economic factor as traditional relatively well paid jobs, especially in male employment, were replaced by the less well paid "mac-jobs" of today.

By David Amos
On 01/05/2012

GOOD NEWS: It reopened in 2014, so let's hope The Old Plough flourishes for another half-a-millenium or so!

By Ralph Lloyd-Jones
On 02/03/2015
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