A town's JD Wetherspoon pub's bid to renew its outdoor seating has revealed the price that the national chain spends on its external chairs and tables.
The Kings Head Hotel, in New Market, Beccles, lodged plans with East Suffolk Council to retain tables and chairs outside next to the pedestrianised street.
Its application was for the pub to keep the 26 tables with 68 chairs as well as five parasols outside.
The council approved the pavement licence extension after there were no objections made.
Within the supporting documents from the applicant, Leonie Hoult, are details of the outdoor chairs and tables which are seen at Wetherspoon pubs across the country.
The "Galaxy Side Chair" costs £43 alone and the "Endurance Dining Table in Black" costs the chain a total of £257.
History of the Kings Head Hotel in Beccles
The Kings Head Hotel went up for sale in 2009, along with five other pubs and hotels in the region after the owner got into financial difficulties.
It was quickly bought by the national pub chain, JD Wetherspoon, which closed the building for refurbishment.
The Kings Head Hotel dates back to the 17th century with the earliest recorded reference to it in a lease granted to George Cocke, dated 1668.
Three years later, he was granted “the tenement in the cornerstead of the Market”, making him the pub’s first landlord.
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The Kings Head remained as a coaching inn for hundreds of years with an open archway leading into a cobbled yard with galleries at the back and stables at the rear.
However, it is quite possible that the Kings Head that stands today replaces an even earlier building. Beccles was ravaged by a fire in the late 16th century.
The Great Fire swept through the town on the evening of 29 November 1586 and “raged with the greatest violence in the vicinity of New Market.”
Several more fires ravaged the town in the 1660s, so it is quite likely that an earlier Kings Head burned down around this time.
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