Devonshire Arms

The Devonshire Arms is a moderately common name for an English pub. The name is for the Dukes of Devonshire, members of the peerage from a wealthy aristocratic family.

Devonshire Arms pub sign in July 2006, featuring the punning Latin inscription "Cavendo tutus" ("I should/must beware all"), alluding to the Devonshire / Cavendish family^[1]

Etymology

The name attributes the Duke (and often his wife the Duchess) of Devonshire, a peerage which is today the main peerage held by a Cavendish (the ducal titles of Portland and Newcastle being extinct). Wherever they held much land or contributed to a local vestry or other charity, as at Chatsworth, Derbyshire and in Chiswick, London (formerly Middlesex) are often Cavendish Arms – and later titular Devonshire Arms – pubs and street names^[2]

At Chatsworth the pub name "The Snake" refers to the family's coat of arms;^[3] as does the Snake Inn, a coaching inn on the old turnpike road on the Snake Pass in the Peak District of Derbyshire^[4]

Pubs

London

The Devonshire Arms in Kensington (37 Marloes Road) is a Victorian era pub built in 1865 with a traditional beer garden. It housed local ARP wardens during The Blitz.

The "Duke of Devonshire" in Balham High Road is a Victorian era corner pub with traditional pub glasswork from the late 1890s, included "an impressive, mirrored bar-back" with original counter and wooden panelling.^[5]

The mock Tudor Devonshire Arms in Camden, also known as "The Dev" or by its previous name The Hobgoblin, is said to be "London's most famous alternative venue".^[6] It was the first Goth subculture pub in Camden. It is the longest-surviving Goth pub in London and is a focus for the city's alternative scene. During the 1980s, Spider Stacy and Shane MacGowan of the Pogues frequented the pub.^[7] The interior featured in "Goths", an episode from a 2003 BBC anthology series, Spine Chillers.^[8]

The Devonshire Arms in Chiswick's Devonshire Road (also named for William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire^[2]) is a gastropub, formerly known as the Manor Tavern. The current building dates from 1924, but a pub already existed on the site in 1888.^[9]

North Yorkshire

In Skipton, North Yorkshire, the three storey stone-built pub named for the Duke of Devonshire is known simply as "The Devonshire". It was once called "The New Inn".^[10]

Derbyshire

In Derbyshire, where the family has its great house at Chatsworth, there are Devonshire Arms pubs at Baslow, Beeley, and Pilsley, the last two both on the estate.^[11][12][13]

References

1. "Cavendo Tutus". Calibre. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
2. "Street Names of Chiswick". Chiswick W4. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
3. Hey, David (2010). The Oxford Companion to Family and Local History. Oxford University Press. p. 974. ISBN 978-0-19-104493-9.
4. "About The Snake Pass Inn". Snake Pass Inn. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
5. "The CAMRA Regional Inventory for London: Pub Interiors of Special Historic Interest" (PDF). Campaign for Real Ale. 2004. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
6. Polly Vernon (24 May 2008). "London's most famous alternative venue does a roaring trade in Snakebite and Black, and mysterious - and very potent - shots". Cocktail girl. The Observer. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
7. Carol Clerk (4 November 2009). Kiss My Arse: The Story of the Pogues. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-85712-019-9. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
8. "Goths (#1.5)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
9. Clegg, Gillian. "Pubs". Brentford and Chiswick Local History Society. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
10. "The Devonshire". Wetherspoon. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
11. "The Devonshire Arms at Beeley". Retrieved 22 February 2016.
12. "The Devonshire Arms Baslow". Retrieved 22 February 2016.
13. "The Devonshire Arms Pilsley". Retrieved 22 February 2016.