Rising Sun

Sun Corner

Notice the building on the extreme right of the photo. This building is where the beacon now stands.

The cottages in the foreground were known as Eclipse Cottages as they were between the Sun & the Moon. The Half Moon was situated behind the photographer and the Rising Sun is shown by the traffic lights.

The Rising Sun, which opened in 1810, was originally owned by the Billericay Brewery based at the Crown Inn which stood where Crown Yard is today. When the Billericay Brewery was sold at auction at the Black Boy in Chelmsford on 29th January 1830 the Rising Sun was sold as an individual lot.

Before the coming of the railway the Rising Sun’s position at the crossroads of the road to London and Southend made this an ideal position to take advantage of the coaching trade and it was said to be an inn of some standing.

The pub changed hands again in 1898 and the sale catalogue described the pub as “Exceptionally well situated where all carriage and bicycle traffic must pass.”

Among holders of the license here have been: James Benson 1848, Joseph Duncan 1861, Sarah Piper 1862, Thomas Oxley 1874, John Cheek 1894 and Edwin Cook 1908.

Author

By Jim Devlin

Page added:

18/02/2012

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The 1898 sale catalogue refers to bicycle traffic. It is well to remember that many an old coaching inn, deprived of business by the railways, was saved by the burgeoning cycle traffic. A CTC recommendation was valued in those days.
By Dave Twitchett (18/10/2019)
According to Kelly’s directories the Landlords of the Sun between 1882 and 1937 were:
1882 – James Lazell,
1886 – Richard Denford,
1890 – James Benson,
1895 / 1899 John Peter Cheek,
1902/1906/1908/1910/1912/1914 Edwin Cook,
1917 Edward Conoley,
1922 Bert Knight,
1925 Robert Knight,
1929 George S Purdin,
1933 /1937 Arthur J White
By Claire Morley (23/02/2017)
The cottage shown in this picture was the home and business premises of greengrocer John Totman. His brother, a drover, is depicted in the picture of Billericay windmill.
By Ian Fuller (13/12/2016)