A James II elm tavern chair,the back with two rows of bobbin turned spindles.Good shaped arms and solid seat with turned front legs and plain stretchers.The front rail is scratch carved and bears the stamp “Old Seven Stars,Manchester”.English Circa 1685.
The historic Manchester tavern is sited in Withy Grove,now the site of the Arndale Centre.The Old Seven Stars is reputed to have been licensed since 1350.History and folk law would suggest that it was here that Guy Fawkes and his companions stayed after they had fled London.
In” Picturesque England”by L.Valentine and published by Frederick Warne &Co we read in Notes and Queries ” There is an old tavern ,at the foot of Shude Hill in Manchester,called the Seven Stars,which it is said has been a licensed house sinceAD 1350;the proof of which lies in Lancaster Castle,where are deposited the records of various licenses.In the Manchester City News,April 25th,1885,it is stated that in the course of structural alterations which were being carried on at the Seven Stars,Withy Grove,Manchester,some discoveries of silver plate were made,which pointed to the conclusion that,during the Cromwellian era,that house was occupied by CharlesI’s troops,and that a then celebrated regiment of dragoons had occasion to secrete their mess plate there,in some case of emergency.
In Harrison Ainsworth’s “Guy Fawkes”,a visit (authentic) of Guy Fawkes and his companions to the Seven Stars is described as follows:
“After much debate,it was decided that their safest plan would be to proceed to Manchester,where Humphrey Chetham undertook to procure them safe lodgings at the Seven Stars,-an excellent hostel,kept by a worthy widow,who,he affirmed,would do anything to serve him.Accordingly they set out at nightfall,-Viviana taking her place before Guy Fawkes,and relinquishing Zayda to the young merchant and the priest.Shaping their course through Worsley,by Monton Green and Pendleton,they arrive within an hour in sight of the town.Crossing Salford Bridge they mounted Smithy Bank, then along Cateaton St and Hanging Ditch and into Whithing(now Withy)Grove into Shude Hill,at the right of which stood,and still stands the Seven Stars.Here they stopped and were warmly welcomed by it’s buxom mistress,Dame Sutcliffe.”
Good colour and condition throughout bar the back legs the last 2 inches of which have been tipped (see photo).
We are open weekly as follows:
