History research is rarely straightforward, or easy, with problems and mysteries creeping up all the time and that is one of the delights, trying to solve a mystery, often one that no one else has attempted or yet solved. One of the biggest mysteries I have/had with the pubs research was a place known as the Green Dragon at Littlemoor Green.
Firstly where is or was Littlemoor Green?
It was a small piece of land on the A4 on the border of Colthrop and Midgham. From the tithe maps of the early part of the 1800s there appear to have been several dwellings there, all evidence has long since disappeared. It is not clear how long there had been buildings there for, and would make a great archaeological excavation to find out, but most was gone by the start of the 1900s. The map below shows the rough location.
The Pub
An Edward Tull was noted in the 1736 overseers records as being of the “Green Dragon.” This is likely to be an inn, but it could just be the name of the house. However it would seem plausible to me to assume this was a drinking establishment, but that is just an assumption.
In 1789 the Court Rolls for Midgham bring evidence by noting John Swain and that he lived at the sign of the “Waggon and Horses” but that previously it was known as the “Green Dragon.” So the inn changed names and it is interesting to note that a document from 1831 says the inn had fallen down and that the “Coach and Horses” on the A4 had opened by 1833.
So this inn started as the Green Dragon when the boundary most likely put it in Midgham. Yes to the first part but in 1654 documents note “Little-moore” as being in Colthrop, oh and yes it has been written Littlemoor, Littlemore, Little-moore, etc. The inn appears to be in a piece of land which was in Colthrop and then due to border changes became Midgham but now seems to largely be in Thatcham, the Colthrop section.
Summary
So we know there was an area called Littlemoor Green, we know there appears to have been multiple buildings there and it was in Colthrop and Midgham depending on the period you look at. The settlement appears to have been abandoned by the 1830s as to more details about the inn, the green and the history there, well I am still investigating and hope to unearth more evidence of.
