The Wheatsheaf Inn
This 17th century building was a farm, a bakery and a grocer’s shop before it became a pub. The Gibbs family owned the building and the land on the north side of the lane from the 1780s. Nathan Gibbs operated a bakery business here until his death in 1825. School Lane was called Gibbs Lane at that time, and then it became Bakers Lane, after the family and their occupation. The Wheat Sheaf remained in the ownership of the Gibbs family until around 1867, with different tenants living there.
By 1841 Edward Cooke had expanded the business to include a grocers shop, and in 1861 it was the home of Joseph Taylor, a saddler and harness maker and his wife Sarah, a grocer. In the 1871 Census Fanny Wright, a widow was living at “Wheat Sheaf” and was also earning her living as a grocer. By 1881, Fanny was described as a Beer Retailer, and so the transition to public house had taken place.
The Wheatsheaf Inn around 1910