Historic pub in Wilmcote near Mary Arden’s Farm suffers fall in visitor numbers
THE manager of the historic Mary Arden Inn in Wilmcote claims his business is suffering because of a drop in customer numbers following changes to Mary Arden’s Farm as a visitor attraction announced in August.
Landlord Harry Sawyer says visitors who caught open top buses to visit the farm would often drop into the Mary Arden Inn for a drink and a bite to eat as part of their sightseeing tour in Wilmcote but he hardly has any tourists now and relies on local trade to get by.
Mary Arden’s Farm is the farmhouse of Mary Shakespeare, the mother of William Shakespeare. For decades it was a popular visitor attraction and centre for education which focused on farming and life in Tudor times with staff wearing Tudor-themed costumes to create a unique visitor experience. There were also rare breeds of animals on sight.
Last August, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (SBT) announced changes to its operation of the property. In future, it would permanently house the trust’s award-winning primary learning programmes and focus fully as a learning centre for primary school children.
Mr Sawyer claims the SBT decision has had a knock-on effect on his business.
He said: “We still get tourists in the village and the odd open top tourist bus but they rarely get off and explore Wilmcote because they can’t get in the farm so they just take a few pictures and the bus moves on. Visitors would go to Mary Arden’s Farm and then come to the pub but they don’t do that any more so I’m concerned.
“We do have our loyal regulars in the village and I’ll always be loyal to them but there was also visitor income and not just from bus tours but people driving out into the country to visit the farm or walkers and cyclists came here too but it’s not like it used to be.”
In a totally separate development, Greene King which owns the Mary Arden Inn building has instructed Leisure property specialists, Fleurets, to sell the Grade II listed property with vacant possession for £550,000. The inn features 11 en suite rooms and car parking spaces for 34 vehicles.
A Greene King spokesperson said: “After exploring all the options available to us, we have made the extremely difficult decision to sell the Mary Arden as we no longer believe we are the best placed to run the pub going forward.
“We will be selling the Mary Arden for existing use as a pub and we remain fully committed to operating great pubs in the heart of communities across Warwickshire.”
Harry is trying to be upbeat and said: “Since the pub was put up for sale we’ve had a few viewings but no firm interest yet we’ll have to wait and see what happens but I don’t think this is going to be a quick process. My loyalty stays with the pub but there’s definitely been a knock-on effect since the changes at Mary Arden’s Farm.
“This is also a pub for locals and always will be, hopefully something will happen.”
The Herald invited the SBT to comment on the current visitor arrangements at Mary Arden’s Farm and the possible impact on the pub. A spokesperson said: “On this occasion, we are unable to offer a statement on this matter.”
