The Three Tuns was built during the Reign
of Queen Anne (1702-1714), in the year of 1712. The ancient sign of
The Three Tuns dates back to the reign of Richard the First (1189-1199),
when tables were set up at Tournament Banquets by placing oak planks onto
three large casks.
When first built The Three Tuns was a farmhouse
forming part of a considerable hop & fruit farm.
The earliest
recorded occupant of the Farm is Jacob Longman, who is mentioned in a sale
document of 1735 when William Tubb purchased the property, which is
described as 'One messuage, with barn and all that
piece or parcel of land now planted with fruit trees, containing by
estimation seven acres and all that piece or parcel of land thereto
adjoining, containing by estimation three acres now planted with hops,
which said messuage, barn and land are situate and lying within Staple in
the parish of Dover, held by Johnathon Gale, previously held by Jacob
Longman and purchased by William Tubb'.
In
1755, the property was purchased by Abraham Marsh, a gardener, hop grower
and brewer of the parish of Wingham. In September of that year,
Marsh stood before two Justices at Dover and was granted a licence to sell
ales and ciders. The property at this date bore no title but was
registered as an Ale House. In 1767, Johnathon Cox purchased the
property, and after obtaining a licence, registered the property under the
title of The Three Tuns.
When Johnathon died in 1801 he bequeathed
the property to his wife Eliza when he decreed that: 'My messuage or tenemente situate and lying at Staple, known by
the sign of the Three Tuns with its land thereto belonging, I leave to my
beloved wife Eliza who upon my passing shall take up the deeds and title
of the said tenemente'.
Although the property was registered as an Inn, every owner
or keeper, with one exception, until the year of 1946, was a market
gardener or fruit grower, and continued to ply their trades as well as run
the inn. The exception to this was Charles Hanbrook, a tax collector
who kept the inn.
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