ON June 18 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte met his match when the Duke of Wellington’s troops, ably assisted by the Prussian army, gave his forces a sound thrashing. The battle became known as The Battle of Waterloo.

The following year it was decided to build an alehouse in Northwich and honour the battle by calling it The Waterloo.

The pub was built in High Street, and the first licensee, Henry Smith, took the helm in 1816 and in 1839 a widow by the name of Elizabeth Wilkinson took over, bringing with her a servant girl by the name of Ann Lewis from Little Budworth.

At this time the pub name was changed to The Beehive. There was a succession of landlords and landladies until 1890 when Northwich was suffering from spectacular subsidence from brine pumping and mining.

Buildings were sinking beneath the earth, and The Beehive was no exception. It became unstable and dangerous.

As a result, it was demolished in 1891 and rebuilt to a design by K Ellerton Esq; it is this beautiful red brick building that we see today with the name proudly etched beneath the window.

At this time there was a clockmaker by the name of JP Roberts in an adjoining shop. This was later incorporated into the pub forming a bar that, due to the incorporation of the shop was a step down from the main building.

As can be seen in the old photograph, before the transformation of the High Street, it was necessary to walk up a flight of stairs to reach the porch on the ground floor.

When the level of the road was raised, the steps were no longer needed as can be seen in the more modern photo.

The town-centre pub continued to serve the town until 2013 when the pub was boarded up and offered for sale. It is now Coulby Conduct Estate Agents offices.