Yuku free message boards

The book I had in mind was Selina Ballance's A Town Called Eton and there are several references to The Waterman's Arms. On page 40 Ms. Ballance writes 'The building in Brocas Street which is now The Waterman's Arms was bought by the parish at auction on 12 July 1792 for £485. There is a reproduction of the auction bill on page 37, plate 14, where lot 3 is described as 'a large, well-built freehold dwelling-house adjoining the above [Lot 2 a small freehold cottage]. Four large rooms on a floor, three stories high, two parlours in front, a back kitchen pantries and closets, and six bedrooms, a good garden, etc.' The parish had bought the property to become the local workhouse.

The Waterman's Arms is described as late 17th century and at one point had a stucco covering applied to its brickwork, bewailed by a writer calling himself Sparrow in his 1885 book 'Eton Housetops'. Apparently the same treatment had been given to the George Inn and the Old Bridge House Hotel (formerly the Catherine Wheel) to the disgust of Sparrow.

In 1682 The Waterman's Arms belonged to a brewer, Robert Style, although it was not then a pub. By 1778 it was in the hands of Stephen Boult, a wealthy coachmaker who owned a number of properties as well as eight gardens and orchard. Nevertheless, despite this wealth, he managed to lose it all and was declared bankrupt by 1792 so the Waterman's was auctioned and became the workhouse. This was not to last long for in 1834 a new, larger workhouse was planned in Eton Wick Road. These plans were superseded in 1844 when a workhouse was built in Slough and to which the Eton poor were sent. It is reasonable to assume that the Waterman's Arms became a pub at that time, in 1844, although no mention is made in Selina Ballance's book.

I regret that I do not have pictures of the Waterman's Arms but I will keep my eyes open. To be truthful, although that side of the Windsor is very closely linked to Windsor, and most Windsorians will know Eton intimately, I am not concentrating on north of the river as far as the Royal Windsor Website goes. I am happy to leave that to someone else!