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picketty witch
147 Ilchester Road
The Picketty Witch is nothing to do with witches. In fact gets its name from the Old English 'piccede' meaning a triangular or pointed piece of land and 'wice' being a Wych Elm that would, at one time, been a noticeable and distinguishing landmark of the area. The name was corrupted (in Victorian times at least, but probably much earlier) to 'piked weech' and 'picked wych' and applied to adjacent land for generations and appears in early Land Tax Returns.
The pub itself is relatively modern, being built in the 1930's by N&C Partridge Ltd, of North Lane, to serve the rapidly expanding housing in the vicinity. The land it was built on was, apparently, once frequently used as a gypsy camp site.
The first licensee in 1936, Reginald Spearing, had been licensee of the Oxford Inn for a brief period prior to coming to the Picketty Witch. The Spearing family had been licensees of the Oxford Inn since the 1890's.
It is a large building of red brick with stone mullioned windows under a tiled roof. Dormered windows to the elevation facing the Ilchester Road but fully two storey on the building's end return.
In 1950 the skittle alley of the Picketty Witch was earmarked by the Corporation for use as a 'care of the homeless' furniture store in the case of a civil emergency - that is, the outbreak of another war.
The late 1960's pop group, Pickettywitch named themselves after the pub after visiting on the way back from a gig.
The following is from an article in the Visitor of June 1996 -
|
The
Picketty
Witch,
Yeovil Nigel Williams with partners Claire and Keith are your new hosts at the Picketty Witch on Ilchester Road, Yeovil. All three are from Stoke-on-Trent and have previous experience of running a pub. The first improvement they have made is to offer food. The Picketty Witch has a large, airy through lounge/public bar. At the far end is a pool table and darts board. The lounge bar/dining area offers comfortable seating, and various cozy corners to relax in over a drink or enjoy a meal. The Picketty Witch is a Gibbs Mew pub... outside is ample parking. There are beer gardens to the rear of the pub and it is hoped in the near future to add a children's play area.
The Picketty Witch restaurant area, 1996. |
The Picketty Witch finally closed in late 2012 and is to be converted into yet another Tesco Express. The following is from the Western Gazette of 13 December 2012.
|
Tesco moves in after Yeovil pub shuts for good
Customers
of a
Yeovil
pub have
lamented
the loss
of their
local
which is
being
taken
over by
a major
supermarket
chain.
Work
will
start
next
year to
convert
The
Picketty
Witch,
on
Ilchester
Road,
into a
Tesco
Express
after
the pub
recently
closed.
Up to 20
full and
part-time
jobs
will be
created
at the
store,
the
supermarket
giant
said.
|
gallery
Colourised photograph of 1960 by Charrington & Co Ltd's surveyors as part of a 'stocktaking' exercise of photographing Brutton's pubs prior to the brewery takeover.
Courtesy of
Chris Rendell
The Picketty Witch photographed in 1989.
The Picketty's sign, photographed in the late 1980s.
From my
collection
Advertisement for the Picketty Witch from the Visitor, August 1996.
The Picketty Witch photographed in 2009.
The bar of the Picketty Witch, photographed in 2010.
Closed in late 2012, this photograph of January 2013 shows the Picketty Witch boarded up and awaiting conversion to a Tesco Express.
Photographed January 2013.
Photographed October 2013.
licensees
1936 – RH
Spearing (1936
Yeovil
Directory)
listed as
Picketty Wytch
1939 – Reginald
Spearing
(Kelly’s 1939
Directory)
listed as
Picketty Witch
PH
1947 – RH
Spearing (1947
Yeovil
Directory)
listed as
Picketty Wytch
1949 – RH
Spearing
(Kelly’s 1949
Directory)
listed as
Picketty Witch
1951 – RH
Spearing (1951
Yeovil
Directory)
listed as
Picketty Witch
1954 – RH
Spearing (1954
Yeovil
Directory)
listed as
Picketty Witch
1957 – CM Arnold
(1957 Yeovil
Directory)
listed as
Picketty Witch.
In 1954 Charles
had been
licensee of
the
Pall Tavern.
1960 – CM Arnold
(1960 Yeovil
Directory)
listed as
Picketty Witch
1964 – Charles M
Arnold (Foord's
1964 Directory)
1965 – Licensee
not named (1965
Yeovil
Directory)
listed as
Picketty Witch
1974 – Arthur F
Twilley (Kelly's
1974 Directory)
1987 – Licensee
not named
(Denton’s 1987
Directory)
listed as
Picketty Witch
1996 – Nigel
Williams
(Visitor article
above)
2012 – Final
Closure
