The History of The Bear & Ragged Staff

The Bear and Ragged Staff

The Bear and ragged Staff is a heraldic sign, normally referring to Richard Nevil, Earl of Warwick (1428 – 71), known as the king maker. In Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Part Two, Act 5, scene 1, where there is much talk of bear baiting, Warwick says ‘Now, by my fathers badge, old nevils crest the rampant bear chain’d to the ragged staff, this day I’ll aloft my burgonet. The “burgonet”  is his helmet and the “ragged staff” in the coat of arms is simply a branch or a young tree stripped of its branches. According to the legend the First Earl slew a bear by strangling it. The second earl killed a giant with a ragged staff, which he thereupon added to his coat of arms.

The Bear and Ragged Staff has been a public house since the 17th Century, the name comes from the heraldic sign normally referring to the Earls of Warwick and is also the Coat of arms of Warwickshire county council.
It is rumored that the Inn gets its name from when the Earl of Salisbury, who on his way to fight in the war of the roses stayed in the gardens of this building. It is possible that this rumor has been confused over the years with that of Agincourt field that lies to the South East of St. Marys church. In 1415 more than 600 knights and Archers had assembled prior to leaving for the battle of Agincourt. They stayed in the field for two nights before marching to join the ships at Southampton, that would take them to join Henry V's army in France, they were reviewed by the Duke of Gloucester.  Another theory for why the Inn has this name is that of the Barker Mill Family and  Mottisfont Abbey.  The name 'Mottisfont' is probably derived from the Old English motes funta, meaning 'spring near the confluence' or 'spring of the moot' or possibly 'spring of the stone' (from the Old English motere: sonte). There is a long, if disputed, tradition of an earlier Saxon building on the site where Saxon freemen may have held their village moots, or meetings. Plentiful water and fish, good communications and fertile land protected from the worst weather made this an ideal setting for the religious community which flourished here from 1201, providing hospitality for the pilgrims that its sacred relics attracted. The original building was a priory, founded by William Briwere in 1201. He was a trusted adviser to Richard the Lionheart, King John and Henry III, and he was one of the barons who signed the Magna Carta. At the dissolution of the Monasteries the priory was acquired by William Lord Sandys, who converted it to a house. Mottisfont passed in 1684 to Sir John Mill, nephew of the last Lord Sandys. Sir John's second son, Sir Richard, the 5th Baronet and an MP from 1721-1747, succeeded in 1706. It was he who transformed the Tudor house substantially to the form we see today, at least on the exterior. The ancestors of the Barker-Mill family who can be traced back to the 14th century have played a vital part in the history of Southampton. The heraldic shield of the Mills can be seen alongside those of other great families on the Bargate, the fortified Norman tower guarding the entrance to what was once in the 16th century the third greatest port in the land.

The first John Mill left his mark as a merchant in Southampton's thriving and cosmopolitan trading centre, circa 1504. By 1613 his family was well enough established to afford an impressive memorial in Nursling Church, Southampton. Sir Richard Mill and his wife Mary, plump and colorful in painted alabaster, lie propped up on their elbows, serenely surveying their one-time domain. In the English Civil War 30 years later, the family was divided by the sword. Sir John Mill fought for the king, his father-in-law was for parliament. But in 1670, Baronet Sir John Mill played fast and loose with royal favour. Made a New Forest bailiff by Charles II, he later appeared in court for illegally cutting down a coppice at Bartley, near Lyndhurst. In the 18th century the family made up for the turmoil of the previous 100 years. They inherited Mottisfont Abbey near Romsey, where trees they planted still grow today. Later Nursling and Millbrook became Mill land. 1836 saw the first Barker-Mill. The Rev Sir John Barker-Mill was a jolly Pickwickian figure, famous for his loud check trousers and cherry-coloured ties.On the top boarder of the Tapestry panel of Mottisfont, Nursling and Rownhams, and East Tytherly is the coat of arms of the Barker-Mills family - The Bears and Ragged Staff - Stone chained bears are mounted on the gate piers to both entrances.