The old Star Inn, Ware
Now Amwell Tandoori
The Star was first mentioned in a court roll of 1512 though the building is said to date from the 1450s.
In 1735 it was run by Elizabeth Green who inherited it from her husband; she bought the pub next door and turned it into a shop. It was occupied successively by a barber and wig maker. Half a century later, most of the shop was included in The Star. Hertford brewers, Fordham and Flowers acquired the pub in 1790. It was run by the Webb family for the first half of the 1800s. Later, it belonged to the Canon Brewery Co Ltd; Benskins of Watford in the 1930s and Ind Coope in the 1950s.
The Star [at 14 High Street] was one of a number of buildings in the High Street purchased by the County Council to make way for the controversial ‘relief road’, which thankfully, was never built. The pub was closed by 1968.
In the early 1970s, the building was in a such a bad state that the chimney had collapsed and a tarpaulin covered the roof. The council finally decided to sell on the condition the new owner would restore it.
It was duly restored and the company who undertook the work were nominated for an award by the Ware Society
In 1981 it opened as Ben’s Brasserie and later, Coleby’s Wine Bar. In the early 2000s it was Flutes Wine Bar and Restaurant, then Le Spice Merchant Indian restaurant until 2012 when it changed to the Pomegranate restaurant and wine bar. In 2013, it was refurbished again and is currently Amwell Tandoori.
Some Landlords and Ladies
1730sElizabeth Green
1806 William Holland
1817 Grace Holland
1822 -1837 Thomas Webb
1837 Aaron and Esther Webb
1855 Mrs R Webb
1866 Mr Thorby
1891 – 1929 Emma Phillips
1933 H T Willis
1937 Mrs Eliza Jackson
1944 -1945 Charles Francis Pyle
1948 – Edward Charles Salmon
1949 – 1950 Henry James William Cotter
1951 – 1952 Joseph McKenzie Squier
1953 – Walter John Coaley
1954 – 1955 Leon Louis Pollock
1956 – Joshua Weston Lowe
1957 – 1958 Arthur Louis Voitret
1959 Luke Clegg
1960 – 1963 Donald Cambria Dunkley
1964 – 1966 Ronald Walter Aubrey
1966 – 1968 Herbert and Sylvia Pike
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