The Three Cups Malmesbury

Photograph by Colin Forward 1989

The Three Cups & 2 St Mary's Street

Photograph by David Forward

A pub has been on this site from the 15th Century. The present building dates back to the 17th Century although it has been much altered. The right-hand rear wing was probably extended to include No. 2 St Mary's Street. In the first Elizabethan age cloth buyers and yarn sellers would stay here. The pub was reputed to have been the headquarters of General Waller in March 1643 when he was besieging the town. It also featured in a case heard in the Court of Chancery in 1702. Henry Chapman, a butcher of Westport died in 1699. He was the leaseholder of the Three Cups which was apparently worth £300 and he was 'esteemed to be a very rich man.' However he died owing money to a number of people who sued his brother in law and landlord who were alleged to have taken many of the assets of the estate. They said that Chapman was poor and that the inn was frequented by coal-wainers (carriers of coal) and travellers in summer but had little or no custom in winter. By 1930 the Stroud Brewery had renovated the pub. installed electric light and it was reported that the old inn looks as if it is coining back into its own again. Visit and see if it has!

Source: Charles Vernon