5 Biggin Street

New building 9 Biggin Street

The original Salutation during a Mayors procession, circa 1925, showing a meeting of the Brotherhood and Guestling, attended by the Lord Warden Earl Beauchamp. Photo by kind permission of Dover Library.

Salutation above shown on right date unknown. On left can be see the "British Queen" and in the middle (same side) the "Prince Albert".

Above shows the old Salutation, date unknown.

From the Dover mercury, 10 August 2001, by Joe Harman. Street landmark uprooted. THIS picture was taken during the last days of the Catalpa or Bean tree which had flourished outside Maison Dieu House for many years. In 1963 it was decided to redevelop a part of Biggin Street. This included Hoare Gothard and Bonds, Pearks Stores and the Salutation. The Salutation would have been out of the picture on the left. The old Inn was rebuilt further down the street, but it never regained its former glory arid is now a building society office. You can see some of the properties on the other side which were later improved, and included the British Queen (slightly right of centre of picture), Giddens the watchmaker, Crush the tobacconist and Parks the fruiterer.

Photos of the new Salutation above and below, kindly supplied by Barry Smith, circa 1980

Salutation in 1991. Photo by Ivan Green 25 February 1991. By kind permission of Dover Library ILL/3710

The former Salutation as it looks today. Although precise date unknown, the building work on the right may be able to date this.

The original was said to exist with the nearby monastery in the twelfth century. One writer has suggested that the two were connected with a tunnel or passageway. The monastery would have been much closer then than the few remaining portions of today so I find that suggestion easy to go along with. Its name before the Reformation was probably "Annunciation" or possibly "Angelus" if it was present then. The sign would have changed when the Priory met its demise with perhaps just the lily remaining. It has been reported that when the pub was called the "Annunciation" that the sign depicted the greeting of the Blessed Virgin Mary by the Angel Gabriel.

When it closed on 5 August 1963 others estimated it to be some three hundred years old. I can only say here that J. Bowes kept it in 1791 and a Mr. Bowen is known to have died there in 1794. I do recall that it was necessary to step down into the public bar so it was easy to fall into as it were.

It was removed in 1963 when it became necessary to widen the pavement. Another of the same name was then built on a corner some sixty feet from the first site.

It opened on 4 September 1964. The new black and white sign, depicting two figures was uninspiring and suggested little to the average person. The structure itself could hardly have looked less like a pub from the outside.

Needless to say, it fought a losing battle for nineteen years and closed finally on 6 December 1983. It was a Whitbread outlet.

Following alterations. Pizza Hut (UK) utilised it as a licensed restaurant but their stay was briefer still, lasting only seven months before giving way to a building society.

LICENSEE LIST

BOWES J 1791-94 dec'd

KITHAM Matthias R. 1823-39+ (KITHAM Nathias R. )

PHILLIPS John 1838-50+ (Dover Telegraph)

SHAVE Mrs 1857

EWES Thomas 1858

EVES Mrs A 1862

ARCHER John 1873-79

CAISTER Henry 1879-82+

YOUNG George Charles 1895-1901 end

HALL Edward 1898-1904 dec'd

HALL Mrs Adeline 1904-06 end

STEPHENSON Mrs Adeline 1906-07 end

DALTON W L 1907-10 dec'd

DALTON Mrs E A 1910

WRIGHT J M 1911 end

GILLESPIE Frederick John 1911-12 end

CASSELDEN John C 1912-13+

WEEKS Thomas Henry 1917

BRYANT J 1919-20 dec'd

BRYANT Mrs 1920-30 end

KIDD Albert 1922-23 end

TUCKER Charles 1922-30 end

BUSHELL Frederick W 1923-24

BARTLETT John Charles 1924-27 end ( BARTLETT J E)

WYATT James 1927-30

HUNT Mrs Mary Ann 1930-32 end

AMES T 1933

BOWLER Frederick John 1936

NODDER Stanley Charles 1938 end

BOTLEY John 1938-40 end

HARTE Thomas James 1940-55

PHILLIPS John W 1946-50

TOWNSEND Charles Victor 1955-63

(New pub)

SUMMERS Frederick D 1964-77 retired

MILES Derek J 1977-83 end

From the Pigot's Directory 1823

From the Pigot's Directory 1828-9

From the Pigot's Directory 1832-33-34

From the Pigot's Directory 1839

From the Pigot's Directory 1840

From Bagshaw Directory 1847

From Melville's Directory 1858

From the Post Office Directory 1862

From the Post Office Directory 1874

From the Post Office Directory 1882

From Pikes Dover Blue Book 1895

From the Kelley's Directory 1899

From the Post Office Directory 1903

From Pikes Dover Blue Book 1909

From the Post Office Directory 1913

From the Post Office Directory 1922

From Pikes Dover Blue Book 1924

From the Post Office Directory 1930

From Pikes Dover Blue Book 1932-33

From the Post Office Directory 1938

From the Kelley's Directory 1950

From the Kelley's Directory 1953

From the Kelley's Directory 1956