Historic Maldon: The Three Cups – the much-missed pub which served locals for over 170 years

By Ben Shahrabi 24th Oct 2023

Local News by Ben Shahrabi 24th Oct 2023

Several cottages on 'Cups Corner' in Maldon display a subtle reminder of a former pub with a fascinating history of hospitality, stretching back around 175 years.

The Cups (or The Three Cups, as it was originally known) opened in the 1840s, one of several pubs that appeared in Maldon during the first half of the 19th century. Its name represented the Salters Company, which first licensed in 1394 and is ranked number nine in the order of precedence of the 'Great 12' Livery Companies.

The pub was jointly owned by John Holley, a tailor with premises in Maldon High Street, and Helen Candler, according to local historian and former Maldon Town Mayor Stephen Nunn. They initially rented their property to the brewers Walter Gray and Sons. It went on to have a series of landlords over the next 170 years.

The Cups as it was in March 2009, five years before its closure. (Credit: Google 2009)

The earliest known landlord, Samuel Thorpe, was there around 1845 up to 1850. In 1851, innkeeper and butcher William See took over. He lived on site with his wife, son, four daughters, mother, an "ostler" (a man employed to look after the horses of people visiting the pub), one servant and a lodger.

However, 1881 heralded a new chapter for The Three Cups. Grays' lease ended and transferred to Charles Ridley, the Chelmsford miller. James Hicks continued as "mine host" and resided in the well-established pub with his wife, son, father-in-law, servant and a relative named George William Howard.

The Cups as it was in 2018, shortly before it was demolished. (Credit: Google 2018)

Born in 1879, George was the son of shipwright William Howard, brother of the famous yacht builder and designer John Howard of The Shipways Yard, Maldon. The Howards were master craftsmen whose vessels can still be seen sailing on the Blackwater today.

George's mother was Mary Ann, whose maiden name was Hicks, hence the association with the Three Cups' Hicks family. With the outbreak of the Great War, George served on HM vessels out of Devonport as a Second Hand in the Trawler Section, as Stephen Nunn writes:

"Promotion followed and George became the Skipper of HM Trawler 'Remindo', requisitioned as an anti-submarine vessel and fitted with hydrophone equipment. On the 2 February 1918, Remindo was lost with all hands in enemy-infested waters off Portland. It was a sad end to the life of a local sailor who was so familiar with his maternal family pub in Cross Road."

Maldon Town Councillor Christopher Swain, former mayor Mark Heard, District Councillor Flo Shaughnessy, Town Mayor Councillor Andrew Lay, historian and former mayor Stephen Nunn, and craftsman Galvin Yuill presented a plaque to commemorate the pub, in October. (Photo: Ben Shahrabi)

In 2014, The Cups, as it had been known since the 1970s, closed its doors for the final time. Plans to turn it into a Tesco Express store were scrapped in 2015, following objection from residents. The pub was finally demolished in 2018, after sitting derelict for four years.

At the corner of Wantz Road and Cross Road now stands a row of terraced cottages. In October, town and district councillors unveiled a new plaque at 'Cups Corner', to commemorate the much-missed pub.