The name above the door is probably the licensee,
a Mrs Weston who was there for many years.
The Weston Suite, in the 80's, was where they had wedding receptions.
Apparently, her ghost is said to haunt The Dun Cow Inn??
It was built in the 16th century as a yeoman’s house but soon became an inn called over the years ‘The Lion’, ‘The Red Lion’ and ‘The Falconer’. At one time it had a grocer’s shop facing onto the main road. It ceased to be licensed in the late 19th century and became a farmhouse. There is said to be a tunnel containing a small room that runs from the cellar under the road to near the ‘Green Man’. The Home Guard had their headquarters here during the 2nd World War and the English Electric Company acquired it in 1954. Source: A Glimpse into the Past by Freda Bennett, 2006.
The old Lion Inn where the gunpowder Plot conspirators met on fifth November, 1605 to await news of the destruction of Westminster. Upon the arrest of Guy Fawkes their plan to seize Princess Elizabeth from nearby Coombe Abbey was abandoned and the rebellion which led to their defeat three days after the fifth was planned by the conspirators here at the Lion.
In 1605 the monarch was James I; the Princess Elizabeth was his eldest daughter and sister to the future Charles I. In 1605 she was nine and being educated by Lord Harington at nearby Coombe Abbey. She wasn’t a Catholic, but the conspirators planned to convert her and use her as their figurehead.
We've previously mentioned the bomb falling on Dunchurch Working Men's Club on November 19, 1940, when June Williams - who was ten at the time - was recounting her memories of that fateful evening. Her parents were the steward and stewardess of the club. Two men playing billiards were killed that night, ironically having come over from Coventry to miss the blitz.
Friends of Dunchurch, a charity formed on 6th September 2018 by like-minded residents who love Dunchurch and its heritage and wish to protect and enhance its environment in order to make the village a better place to live in, work in and visit.
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