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The Coffee Tavern Eaton Bray

In 1890, Rev. Edwin Sutton came to the village of Eaton Bray and one of his first tasks was to restore the church. Mr Wallace, an established local business man, suggested to Rev. Sutton that they had to get the men of the village out of the pubs, of which there were 16! The only work available to the men was casual, seasonal labour such as fruit picking, and this meant that they had time on their hands, which was spent in one of the many pubs. Mr Wallace was a very generous benefactor of the village, and he gave Rev, Sutton £1,000 to build somewhere for the men. At this time Eaton Bray had a Rural District Council, of which a Mr Geoffrey Sharrat was a member. Mr Sharrat was a very talented local builder and was sure to build something suitable, but Rev. Sutton insisted that plans were drawn up and the work put out to tender. Mr Sharrat did win the contract, and at their monthly meetings gave the Council a progress report. He informed the Council that the work was nearing completion and asked if the Architect would like to be on site. Mr Sharrat was then asked when the carpenters would be installing the stairs as the Council would like to inspect the upstairs room, to which Mr Sharrat replied that no stairs had been included on the plans, he had no plans to install stairs! Plans then had to be hastily drawn up for the installation of an outside staircase. The grand opening took place in April 1901. Upstairs consisted of a billiard table, comfortable chairs and heating was provided by a coke-burning stove. Downstairs provided reading rooms and coffee could be purchased over a stable door in the kitchen. The earliest manager was a Mr Thorogood with Mr Will Sear being the last. The building was refurbished by Eaton Bray Parish Council in 1996/7

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