THE opening of the Maidenhead Inn at 17 Winchester Street, Basingstoke, brings the history of the building to a full circle, for that was its name when it was built in the early 17th century.

The old Maidenhead Inn was one of many coaching inns that were sited along the London to West Country road, including The Angel in the Market Place, The Crown opposite the Maidenhead, the Wheatsheaf in Winton Square, and The Red Lion in London Street, Basingstoke.

Old records state that in 1636, Sir Nicholas Harnham wrote to his brother Edward suggesting that they meet at the Maidenhead Inn for a drink and a chat.

In 1686 the inn was chosen by officials of the College of Arms for their final Heraldic Visitation in this country.

The Clarencieux King of Arms, Sir Henry Saint-George, arrived at the Maidenhead on August 14 that year with his persuivants and attendants and held court in the building to register the pedigrees of the gentry in northern Hampshire.

Other documents record that in 1717, the proprietor of the inn, Edmund Pitman, paid a half-year rent of 10d for the inn’s signpost. In 1784, the Hampshire Directory mentioned the inn as a post chaise, and that it was used as an excise office. (Post chaise meant that it was where mail was dropped off by the stage coaches.) The inn was kept by Mary Martin.

In 1786, the inn was used by the Basingstoke Inclosure Commissioners to read the award to certain proprietors of land affected by the Act of Parliament, and for them to sign it.

This “Inclosure” (now almost a dormant word) related to the enclosure of common lands throughout England.

The Basingstoke common (since transferred to Basing in 1970) was originally next to the War Memorial Park.

By 1790, the ownership of the Maidenhead was changed to the Duke of Bolton, who lived at Hackwood Park, just outside Basingstoke, and in its last few years the inn was called the Bolton Arms. In 1815 the inn closed down and lay empty for several years.

Then, in 1918, the bank of Raggett, Seymour and Company acquired the building and converted it for their purposes.

In 1864, the bank was absorbed by the Hampshire Banking Company and became the Capital and Counties Bank. It eventually became Lloyds Bank, and records state that in 1891 alterations were made to the building for that bank.

In 1923 Lloyds Bank moved to purpose- built premises on the corner of Market Place and Winchester Street, leaving the old Maidenhead building empty. Mr H C Ody, who had a grocery business on the corner of New Street and Winchester Street, acquired the building at number 17 and moved into the premises in the mid-1930s. He remained there until 1966, then closed the business down.

The Halifax building society moved in until recent years, when it acquired larger premises in Wote Street, so the old Maidenhead building became empty again. Now the Wetherspoon firm has returned the premises to an inn – and history repeats itself.