The New Inn

A final dip into “One Hundred Years in Childe Okeford 1883 – 1983”.

This is our final visit to this excellent book for now and a full copy of an original version is available to read on the village web site One Hundred Years in Childe Okeford 1883-1983

“A little higher up the road, laying some way back off the road, is the Saxon Inn which was previously called the New Inn. Originally there were three cottages here with a beer house in the middle. Some strange tales are told about these. A carpenter, named Moore, at one time lived in the first cottage and drowned himself in the river, reputedly because his cottage was wanted by the beer-house. In the third cottage a very old lady named Mrs. Newman, although she was very ill at the time, died after drinking Lysol (a disinfectant). The landlords at that time were a Mr. & Mrs. Stodard. A party for their 25th wedding anniversary had been arranged and a turkey and a cake cooked at Mr. Fudge’s bakery. At the last minute, however, Mr. Stodard had disappeared.

The turkey and cake were given to Blandford Hospital, and a week or so later the body of Mr. Stodard was found in the belfry of Blandford Parish Church – he had hung himself. The next landlord died playing skittles, and there is a story that the original man to be turned out of his cottage put a curse on the pub, causing all these violent deaths. However, a lady who knew all these people was quite sure none of the occupants of the cottages would have cursed anyone.

In the fifties a Mrs. M.E. Hart was in charge of the off-licence which later became the New Inn, and in September 1955 she arranged to have a Harvest Thanksgiving Service* held there, conducted by the Rector, Dr. R. Taylor. Afterwards the produce was sold by auction for the benefit of the National Institute for the Blind. This proving a successful venture, it was repeated for several years. The name of the Inn was changed to the Saxon in the mid-sixties when another company took it over.”