There have been five public houses within striking distance of the centre of Fleetville during its history: in no particular order, the Rats' Castle, the Bunch of Cherries, the Crown, the Camp and the Baton. All have had their periods of success; all have struggled at some point to remain viable businesses; all pulled pints under the auspices of more than one owning company in their time, two are no longer trading – the Camp and the Baton, and one succeeded in remaining viable under a change of name; the latter opened for fifty years as the uniquely titled Bunch of Cherries before its new owner, Greene King, rebranded the premises the Speckled Hen. And the Crown has soldiered on since the 1890s with little controversy, changing its pattern of offering according to the needs of the day.
The Rats' Castle in its Benskins guise on the corner of Hatfield Road and Sutton Road. Its original design was by St Albans' architect Percival Blow. |
Concept image of the building and badged as the Old Toll House COURTESY STAR PUBS & BARS LTD |
One of the hanging sign designs produced by Benskins for its property in Sutton Road. |
The short-lived design which replaced rats with a mounted horse and gave dominance to a moated castle. COURTESY ST ALBANS MUSEUMS |
When the time came to name a pub to serve the growing community this name was a given, even though if someone back then had suggested the Castle on the basis there was already a tangible label in place, I wouldn't have been surprised if the Company had selected it. But this was a period of quirky labels like the Three Headed Pig, the Nobody Inn or the Jolly Taxpayer! So Rats' Castle it became.
The company's current intentions simply remove the Rats' reference altogether and turn to the actual function of the little building which arrived two building generations earlier: to clarify, the turnpike toll house came first, to be followed by a house named Primrose Cottage, and finally the public house designed by local architect Percival Blow.
You might or might not recognise it, but this is a concept montage of interiors of what will be the Old Toll House, presently the Rats' Castle. COURTESY STAR PUBS & BARS LTD |
The Castle had a very brief existence; the volatility of residents, and I suspect the pub's regulars, were too attached to the given name and the earlier sign resumed its place within a matter of months, although with a new landlord appearing. Will the Old Toll House have a longer, more permanent life than the Castle? I suspect there will be locals who will still be referring to "the Rats'" or the "former Rats'" in a generation's time – as long as the business lasts that long.
See also: http://www.stalbansowneastend.org.uk/topic-selection/rats-castle/