The Packhorse Inn

The Packhorse Inn is a pub in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England, operated by the national pub chain J D Wetherspoon. It stands at 7 Northgate, in one of the oldest parts of the town, and occupies a building that dates from the early 18th century. Historically the site was one of Sleaford's coaching inns, serving traffic travelling north along the main east-coast road towards Lincoln and Hull. Over its long life the inn has carried several names: it appears on a map of Sleaford drawn around 1770 as The Packhouse Inn, was also known in its early days as The White Lion, and by 1830 was recorded in a commercial directory as The Lion Hotel and Posting House. It remained The Lion Hotel until its recent closure, after which it was taken over and reopened by Wetherspoon under the revived name The Packhorse Inn. As a Wetherspoon pub, The Packhorse Inn follows the chain's familiar format: a large, food-led, value-focused pub offering an extensive menu of meals and drinks, real ales, and a wide range of beers, wines and spirits, with ordering available through the Wetherspoon app. The pub opens early, from 8:00am, seven days a week, closing at midnight Sunday to Thursday and at 1:00am on Fridays and Saturdays. Children under 18 are permitted on the premises only between 8:00am and 9:00pm. Facilities include Wi-Fi, TV screens, a licensed outside area, baby-changing facilities and step-free access. Like other Wetherspoon houses, The Packhorse Inn participates in the chain's twice-yearly real-ale festivals, which bring together a large range of guest ales, including beers from overseas brewers, alongside seasonal food menus such as the Christmas menu and cocktail ranges. The pub's own history is reflected in the prints and text about Northgate displayed inside, which recount the building's coaching-inn past and the history of the surrounding street, including the 17th-century home of William Alvey, whose bequest founded the town's charity school in 1729. The Packhorse Inn is not an independent business: it is one of the many individual pubs in the J D Wetherspoon estate, a British pub company founded in 1979 and floated on the Stock Exchange in 1992 as J D Wetherspoon plc. Its identity therefore combines a locally specific heritage building and name with the standardised operating model, pricing and menu of a large national chain.

The building that now houses The Packhorse Inn was built in the early 18th century and was one of Sleaford's old coaching inns. It was used mainly by traffic heading north along the main east-coast road, to Lincoln and Hull. The inn appears on a map of Sleaford drawn around 1770 as The Packhouse Inn. In its early days it was also known as The White Lion, but by 1830 it was recorded in a commercial directory as The Lion Hotel and Posting House. It remained The Lion Hotel until its recent closure. After that closure the building was taken over by J D Wetherspoon, the British pub company, which reopened it as a Wetherspoon pub under the revived historic name The Packhorse Inn. Wetherspoon's own pub history for the site notes that the building is one of Sleaford's old coaching inns and that Northgate, the street on which it stands, is one of the oldest parts of the town. The pub displays prints and text about the history of Northgate; the accompanying text explains that the bank building opposite The Packhorse incorporates the 17th-century home of William Alvey, whose bequest led to the founding of the town's charity school in 1729, and that a century earlier Sir Robert Carre founded a grammar school in Eastgate on the site of the original Carre family home. As part of the Wetherspoon estate, the pub shares in the wider history of the chain. J D Wetherspoon opened its first pub in Colney Hatch Lane, Muswell Hill, north London, on 9 December 1979; for its first month it was called Martin's Free House before being renamed Wetherspoons early in 1980. In the early years the company's pubs were all in north London, with the head office above The Dog in Archway. In 1990 Wetherspoon's pubs hosted their first real-ale festival, lasting four days and featuring six beers; today each Wetherspoon pub takes part in the twice-yearly beer festival, offering up to 50 beers each, 10 of which are from overseas. In 1991 the company opened The Tally Ho in North Finchley with a dedicated non-smoking bar upstairs, one of several pioneering initiatives it carried out before the smoking ban of July 2007; it also launched its CBS (cleanliness, beer and service) scheme and the first edition of Wetherspoon News, and opened Hamilton Hall at Liverpool Street station, its first pub in central London and at a train station. In 1992 Wetherspoon opened its first airport pubs, at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4, and the company was floated on the Stock Exchange, becoming J D Wetherspoon plc. Within this framework, The Packhorse Inn operates as a modern, food-led, value-focused pub. It opens at 8:00am daily, closing at midnight Sunday to Thursday and at 1:00am on Fridays and Saturdays, with children under 18 allowed on the premises only between 8:00am and 9:00pm. It offers Wi-Fi, TV screens, a licensed outside area, baby-changing facilities and step-free access, and customers can order food and drinks to their table via the Wetherspoon app. The pub takes part in chain-wide promotions such as the autumn beer festival, which features a range of 30 real ales including five from international brewers over a 12-day period in October, and the Christmas menu, available from mid-November to the end of December (excluding Christmas Day).

• 1992

  Wetherspoon is floated on the Stock Exchange and becomes J D Wetherspoon plc.

• 1990

  Wetherspoon's pubs host their first real-ale festival.

• 1979

  J D Wetherspoon opens its first pub in Muswell Hill, north London, on 9 December.

• 1830

  Recorded in a commercial directory as The Lion Hotel and Posting House.

• 1770

  Appears on a map of Sleaford drawn around 1770 as The Packhouse Inn.

• 1700

  The building is constructed in the early 18th century as one of Sleaford's coaching inns.

A value-focused, food-led Wetherspoon pub housed in a historic former coaching inn in Sleaford town centre.

• Pub food menu

• Real ales and guest ales

• Christmas menu

• Spritz cocktails

• Craft cans

1. 1The Packhorse Inn - J D Wetherspoonjdwetherspoon.com
2. 2History - J D Wetherspoonjdwetherspoon.com
3. 3The Packhorse Inn - J D Wetherspoon (pub history)jdwetherspoon.com
4. 4About us - J D Wetherspoonjdwetherspoon.com
5. 5The Packhorse Inn - Wikidatawikidata.org