7 Northgate, Sleaford, Lincolnshire, NG34 7BH
Built in the early 18th century, this Wetherspoon pub was one of Sleaford’s old coaching inns, originally known as The Packhorse Inn. The inn was used mainly by traffic heading north, along the main east-coast road, to Lincoln and Hull. It appears on the map of Sleaford, drawn around 1770, as The Packhouse Inn. It was also known as The White Lion, in its early days, but was recorded in a commercial directory of 1830 as The Lion Hotel and Posting House. It remained The Lion Hotel until its recent closure.
Prints of Northgate.
Prints and text about the history of Northgate.
The text reads: The Packhorse is one of Sleaford’s old coaching inns. Built in the early 18th century, it was used mainly by traffic heading north to Lincoln and Hull. The inn was also referred to as the White Lion, but from the 1800s was known as the Lion Hotel.
Much altered in Victorian times, Northgate is one of the oldest parts of Sleaford. The bank building opposite The Packhorse incorporates the 17th century home of William Alvey, whose bequest led to the founding of the town’s charity school in 1729.
A century earlier, Sir Robert Carre founded a grammar school in Eastgate, on the site of the original Carre family home. The school moved to Northgate in 1835. A later Robert established Carre’s almshouses, which still stand in Northgate near these premises.
External photograph of the building – main entrance.
If you have information on the history of this pub, then we’d like you to share it with us. Please e-mail all information to: pubhistories@jdwetherspoon.co.uk