North Walsham – Market Street / Bear Street (The Bear Pub)

Again carrying on my theme of pubs now disappeared in North Walsham, the Bear was once located on Bear Street, now better known as Market Street.

It’s possible that the name of the pub comes from a time of bear baiting, although I’m unsure how prevalent that would have been in the market town of North Walsham. The pub was trading from the late eighteenth century and it finally closed in 1967 when Bullards, the owner, decided that it was uneconomic.

For anyone in the town on Thursday 10 October 1850, they could have gone to watch the auction performed by William Pope auctioneers. It was the property of William Youard who was the landlord leaving the pub and for sale was “all the household furniture, china, glass and sociable” belonging to him. There was an indication of the scale of the property, as it was noted that there was “a commercial room, a dining room, an assembly room, sleeping rooms, a porter room, a bar, store room, kitchen, wash-house and yard”.

In 1872 the pub was available to be let and it was noted by the agent that “as the contemplated railroad from Norwich to Cromer will pass very near this house, it cannot fail to derive great benefit from it”.