Local historian, Andrew Lamberton, says: "The building was started as a wholesale wine and spirits merchants by Thomas Hall in 1787. It continued in the family until 1871.

   "In 1874 it was taken over by Travers Pickmere of Pickmere and Holden until 1914 when it became Ye Olde Vaults. There have been several licensees since then.

   "It was always known locally as 'The Potting Shed.' There are various tales of ghosts and stories of tunnels."

   An advertisement in a Nantwich publication of about 1910 for Pickmere and Holden lists them as wholesale and retail wine, spirit, ale and porter merchants, and describes them as "successors to J.Hall, established upwards of a century." A reference to the Halls, of course (see above).

   The pub closed in February 2011 when a For Sale went up on the front of the building. Then, towards the end of that year, the building became home to Retro, a "party music venue" open on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturday, run by two local men. But the application from Fat Face will not, it is reported, be considered until later in the year.

   The closure of Ye Olde Vaults would mean the word "vaults" would disappear from Nantwich pub names. The Union Vaults, further along High Street, is now called The Union - which is possibly the shorthand form by which the customers have always known it. At least it doesn't have one of those strange, modern names.  

 

The nickname, The Potting Shed | Spotlight on the shops | M and S in Nantwich

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