I recently wrote about the Top Swan, adjacent to Bishop Vesey's Grammar School, which benefited from trade coming into Sutton from Lichfield.

In this week's column we will take a look at the Horse & Jockey, which also well situated - the turnpike roads from West Bromwich and Birmingham met at the site where, in 1781, Stephen Ireland began brewing and selling beer.

A newspaper advertisement from 1824 tells us that the Horse & Jockey consisted of large front and back rooms, a tap room, a kitchen and five bedrooms - indicating that at this time the inn was providing accommodation.

Cultivated

Like many innkeepers of the time, the licensee kept cows and pigs and also cultivated vegetables and fruit. Thus, he was able to provide meals for his customers as well as ale. He often had animals for sale - in 1866 he offered a cow with her second calf at a price of £12.

There were often auctions of livestock at the Horse & Jockey. Not only did the innkeeper get paid by the auctioneer for the use of his yard, but the bidders also found themselves in need of ale. In 1866 there was a lottery for an enormous pig. When it had been slaughtered, local people were invited to inspect this remarkable specimen.

There were outbreaks of drunken and disorderly at the Horse & Jockey. In 1858 William Greaves became involved in a fight with two other men and received a black eye. Greaves had just returned from giving evidence at the Petty Sessions - he was a police constable. He was fined 5s with costs of 13s 6d.

In 1882 Charles Cook bit off part of the tail of a friend's dog. He claimed he was in demand for this procedure and had acted at the request of his friend. He was fined 10s for wanton cruelty.

The Horse & Jockey became very popular with visitors to Sutton from Birmingham and West Bromwich. There were tram stops outside the inn. After refreshments, these visitors walked to Sutton Park.

Such was the commercial success of the Horse & Jockey thatAnsells applied in 1906 to rebuild it. Four years later a dining room was added. The Horse & Jockey was widely regarded as 'a high class' public house.

• The Public Houses of Sutton Coldfield 1800-1914 by Stephen Roberts is available from Amazon, £5.99.

Associate Professor
Stephen Roberts