The date of the origins of The Plough Inn, on what was once referred to as Plough Corner, is somewhat muddled.
According to Havering Libraries, some say the original watering hole opened in the sixteenth century, despite maps of the area and records showing no sign of this early existence.
The venue was certainly established by 1841, with the libraries’ archives noting a Mr Samuel Theobald as acting landlord at this time.
The original Plough Inn is remembered to have consisted of two bars, a tap room and a saloon bar.
Beer served from the pub is described as having been stored in barrels mounted on trestles in a back room.
H. J. Crossley wrote: “In the garden at the rear of the house Mr Mardell (manager) kept a vixen fox on a long chain to deter any intruders from stealing the bottled beers that were kept in a shed there. Believe me it worked! ”
In 1925, plans were approved to replace the original pub.
Havering Libraries records: “An application was made Mr. Herbert S. J. Jarvis, licensee of the Plough beerhouse, Romford Common through Mr. Peake for a wine licence, it being said that licensee was often asked for wine by customers who used the arterial road.
“Applicant said that when people asked for wine he offered them ginger wine, but they left half of it. (Laughter). – The application was granted.”
By the 1970s, The Plough Inn underwent a revamp which saw it gain a bigger restaurant to better suit the groups that met there.
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The pub was closed in 2007 after trade had been slowing since the 1990s and on April 5, 2011 it went up in flames.
Firefighters were forced to respond to yet another fire at The Plough on April 16 that same year, which took four hours to extinguish and left the premises boarded over and charred.
In 2015, the KFC drive-thru opened on the site of the former pub on what is now known as Gallows Corner.
