King’s Lynn may uniquely boast pubs named after plays, like The Red Rover and Hob in the Well, a rare naming convention.
This crime sparked many songs and plays. The site became a tourist spot, and people bought souvenirs there. Moyse’s Hall Museum has Corder’s head cast, along with a book bound in his skin.
Melodramas became a popular entertainment form; however, not all were about true crime cases. One such melodrama was “The Red Rover,” which came from a book by James Fennimore Cooper. Cooper is also known for “Last of the Mohicans”.
“The Red Rover” was a big hit, too. It came out in the US in 1828, and a play appeared just 44 days later. Soon, another version showed in New York. In 1829, Britain saw four versions.
A pub named the Red Rover got Hoyle’s attention. It sat near the Friend’s Meeting House at 22 Coronation Square and was demolished for Hillington Square. The pub existed by 1836 at least. Another Red Rover was on Jews Lane, now Surrey Street.
This was a beer house, made possible by the 1830 Beer House Act. These pubs probably got their names from the plays based on Cooper’s book. Naming pubs after plays seems unusual, but it happened in Lynn, too.
The Hob in the Well is on Littleport Street. It existed in 1796, they say, and is named after an 18th-century play where a boy delivers messages for lovers. A bad guy then throws him into a well.
Hoyle knows no other play-named pubs in the whole country. Pubs sometimes get named after book characters, and he mentions Jude the Obscure and Sherlock Holmes. Authors also inspire names, and Edgar Wallace provides a break from Shakespeare.
Michael Balcon honors a movie producer, and Lily Langtree recognizes an actress. But Hoyle finds no plays inspiring pub names. Sweeney and Todd’s wine bar is similar and may come from the Penny Dreadful dramas. Hoyle thinks Lynn had the only such pubs and asks people to prove him wrong.