Capturing Cambridge
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Red Lion Whittlesford Bridge (WMPalmer pre 1924)

Red Lion, Whittlesford Bridge

History of the Red Lion

Listed Building

Inn now a hotel. Early C16 with later C16, C17 and C18 alterations rebuilt and altered in mid to late C19. Timber-framed with plaster infill and rendered, painted brick, front elevation cased in knapped flint with gault brick quoins and dressings; plain tile roofs.

Parlour with carved beams and mantel, Red Lion, Whittlesford Bridge (WMPalmer)

Door in yard of Red Lion, Whittlesford Bridge (WMPalmer)

W M Palmer (1924) argues that there was no connection between the medieval hospital next door and the inn.

In 1619 King James stayed at the Red Lion and there is still a “King’s Room’. In 1631 the King granted the landlord a special licence to sell wine.

1763 landlord Hammond Turtle put his initials with date under the red lion on the sign board.

1834 Thomas Holiday, landlord. At that time a black oak table, allegedly from the hospital was in the dining room, and the font caught drips from the pump in the courtyard.

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Licence

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Dear Visitor,

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Capturing Cambridge makes accessible thousands of photos and memories of Cambridge and its surrounding villages and towns. It is run by the Museum of Cambridge which, though 90 years old, is one of the most poorly publicly funded local history museums in the UK. It receives no core funding from local or central government nor from the University of Cambridge.

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Museum of Cambridge