Home > Lincolnshire > Fosdyke > Old Inn Old Inn

Picture source: David Gray

The Old Inn was situated on Old Inn Lane. It was built c1805 and owned by the Soames Brewery early in the 20th century. Closed before 1910 it is now the farmhouse of Suffolk House Farm. A grade-II listed building.

Source: Adam Cartwright

The Old Inn was best known for the “Fosdyke Tidal Clock”. This is a unique longcase (grandfather) clock showing high tide for the River Welland estuary at Fosdyke Wash (see photo, right). It was made in the 1740s by William Bothamley of Kirton, Lincolnshire. Although it looks like a conventional longcase clock denoting the time, day of the month and the phases of the moon, the special feature of the clock is that it shows the rising and falling of the tide in Fosdyke Wash which indicates when it was safe for the guides and drovers with their cattle to start to cross this dangerous estuary, which was then a distance of two miles through bare sands and shifting channels. For many years this clock was located at the Old Inn. It is known that it was there in 1805 since the clock was part of the inventory when Thomas Rothwell took the tenancy of the Old Inn. Travellers and cattle drovers would wait at the inn until the clock indicated that it was safe to cross the estuary. With the building of Fosdyke Bridge nearby in 1815, the clock became unnecessary and it was sold in 1866. However, it still exists and occasionally appears for sale at auctions.

planetsuffolk.com (July 2019)

Do you have any anecdotes, historical information, updates or photos of this pub? Become a contributor by submitting them here. Like this site? Follow us on Make email contact with other ex-customers and landlords of this pub by adding your details to this page.