The history of the Maltsters Arms Woodbury, although undoubtedly long, is more than a little shrouded in ambiguity and uncertainty. Whilst it is only within living memory that the name The Maltsters Arms has come into common use, it has been connected with the licensed trade for a great many years. Situated as it is in the centre of one of the largest parishes in the County, the majority of the buildings are commensurate with the late 18th Century style of building, though it probably started life under a thatch roof and any earlier building would probably have been of cob.
Going back into the mists of time, a certain amount of conjecture must be added to the facts as they are known but it would appear that as early as 1780 (and before that) the property was known as Elliots or Eliotts and was occupied by Edward Callway, for which he paid Land Tax (a form of rates) of 5s 9d. He appears yearly in these records as the owner/occupier until 1793. In 1784 he is recorded in the Victualler's Records as a Surety for Samual Salter, the landlord of the Globe Inn Woodbury, which in those days was known as Oakey Cross, and stood on the left half way up Globe Hill, (it was destroyed by fire in 1916). His function as Surety was to stand as guarantor for Samual Salter's good behaviour as a Licensee and he had to back this guarantee with a bond for £20 (about £500 in today's money). It was a common practice for persons connected with the sale of liquor to stand as Surety for landlords, usually in return for some trade arrangement such as the purchase of beer or malt etc. This therefore gives us the first clue as to Callway's occupation.
In 1793 he appeared as Surety for Richard Hall who had succeeded Samual Salter at the Globe and he presumably had a similar trade arrangement. The same year he relinquished the ownership of the premises Elliots (perhaps to raise capital or on the expiration of a lease) to Thomas Heathfield but he remained in occupation as a tenant. In 1797 Thomas Heathfield also acquired the ownership of the Globe Inn, installing a new tenant William Channon.
Edward Callway stayed on at Elliots probably supplying the Globe and other local Inns with their beer and malt until 1811 when Thomas Heathfield himself became the occupier. This was probably on the death of Callway and does not mean that Thomas Heathfield, who was a local gentleman, actually took possession but rather that he did not effect a lease to anyone that by law required them to pay the Land Tax.
In 1814 William Ellis, who had been the Licensee of the Rolle Arms, East Budleigh (then called the Exeter Inn) took owner/occupation of Elliots and James Baker the owner/occupation of the Globe Inn on the death or departure of Thomas Heathfield. William Ellis also took a tenancy of a smallholding called Cornishes and one of his first acts was to become Surety to the new Licensee of the Inn he had just left at East Budleigh, presumably effecting a trade agreement to sell malt. This contract lasted three years at least and Ellis continued as Surety.
In 1819 William Ellis' son Charles, who assisted in the Malting and Brewing business, stood as a Surety for Sarah Gifford of the London Inn, Exmouth and is described as a Maltster of Woodbury. He is similarly described in 1827 when standing as Surety for William Wood of the Exeter Inn, Aylesbury and for Joseph Austin of the White Hard, Woodbury. The last year in which William Ellis is recorded as being the owner/occupier of Eliotts in 1831 and it is in that same year that Charles took ownership of the Globe Inn on the death of Donald Campbell and the following year, the ownership of Eliotts too, probably on the death of his father.
In 1842 the parish was mapped and each property listed and assessed in accordance with the Tithe Commutation Act. It is here that we see the present buildings that we know today as the Maltsters Arms being No.1324 Houses and Yard, 34 poles in area, occupied by Charles Ellis as owner and others (tenants of the adjoining cottages). In addition the premises and cottages there was almost certainly a taproom and as an Act of Parliament abolished the need to apply for Alehouse Registration it is not surprising that we have no reference to it. Charles Ellis disappeared from the Woodbury scene in 1850 which is the last date that he appears in the Electoral lists and it is also recorded that a beer retailer named John Cains was in business in that same year. It is possible that Cains took over the premises from Ellis though this must remain speculation as in 1842 a John Cains was the occupier of a house and orchard in the lane behind the church. He has also acted as a Surety for the Red Lion, Ottery St Mary as early as 1827 when he was described as a Yeoman, and he eventually died in the early 1850s aged 80.
In February 1855 when the country was in the grip of a severe winter, the village received 'Ghostly Visitors' with the appearance one morning, after a heavy fall of snow, a line of hoof prints in a dead straight line which seemed to disappear up walls and over roof tops. The line was of a single hoof each one a set distance in front of the next and of a print which to this day belonged to no known animal. The line stretched for many miles and crossed the Exe to reappear on the West bank, ruling out the possibility of an elaborate prank. No satisfactory explanation has ever been put forward and at the time it was generally accepted that it was the night the Devil visited the Earth. The prints may well have passed right across the roof of Eliotts.
Kelly's Directory of 1856 describe William Davey as a beer seller and the following year Billing's Directory gave his premises the name of 'The Alma'. Was this the first name of the Maltsters? If so it was not an uncommon on at this time, for pubs and inns changed their names by the dozen in patriotic recognition of the battle of Alma in the Crimean campaign in 1854.
However, memories fade and by 1866 there remains no trace of the Alma or William Davey but Robert Glanville was established as a Maltster. This was the start of a long connection of the Glanville family with the premises. Although only described as a Maltster, he was also in the brewing business and the building were known in the vicinity, and still are, as the 'Brewery' supplying local inns and the Globe in particular. Robert stayed for over 35 years and is named in an 1897 directory
But he died before 1902 when Mrs Jane Glanville took over the License which she retained until after 1910.
On her death the License passed to Thomas Glanville who carried on the brewing business as well as the retail trade for the duration of the first World War, also retaining the proprietary interest in the Globe Inn.
In 1916 there occurred a disastrous fire which one resident still vividly remembers. His father rushed in to announce that the Globe was on fire and the small boy thought he was referring to the globe of the oil lamp in the kitchen but he was quickly corrected and taken to see the old coaching inn enveloped in flames. The landlord Ernest Beer and his family escaped the dreadful conflagration and the Woodbury Merryweather Fire engine pumped water from the ditch in vain as the place burnt to the ground.
With the loss of half the family enterprise, the Maltsters came more into being and though Thomas Glanville had departed in 1919 the family connection remained with Hardy Pyle who was considered a Glanville by marriage.
Thomas Henry Williams had taken over by 1923 and severed the connection and it is here that we find the Inn first officially credited with its present title, the Maltsters Arms.
The art of the Maltster
The Maltster was the man who prepared the barley for the Brewer by steeping it in water until it had absorbed the correct amount of moister (learned by experience). The water was then drained and the barley spread over the floor for about 8-10 days until it began to sprout.
During this time it was frequently turned to prevent overheating, the tool employed being the familiar Malt Shovel, and eventually it was placed into a kiln and dried. The longer and harder it was dried, the darker the beer. When removed and cooled the sproutings were removed by trampling on them and when polished and dressed were ready for the brewer. If the premises were large enough (as these were) the Maltster, Brewer and Licensee were very often one and the same person.
This short explanation of the Maltsters art is reflected in the new Inn sign (not a real Coat of Arms) with the wooden Malt shovels and ears of barley. The sign also had local representation in Clyst St Mary, Exmouth (Tower Street - demolished 1866) and at Topsham (the Maltscoop or shovel) and was formerly even more popular than today.
Williams remained into the 1930s and was followed by Albert Henry Gater at which late date this pen runs into stiff competition for several locals each with far more accurate versions of events, perhaps of how the cobbles were laid with straw to deaden the horses hooves in times of illness or bereavement.
But sup your ale, long since brewed by Messrs Norman and Pring and lately Col. Whitbread, and contemplate the cosy journey home by car instead of Four in Hand, howling gale and Footpads at Pink House Corner.
The Maltsters Arms | Greenway | Woodbury | Devon | EX5 1LN
Tel No: 01395 232218 | Email: Jim at the Maltsters Arms