This Grade II listed building is thought to have been built in the seventeenth century. Though restored, this is reminiscent of how the buildings in the town would have looked before the Industrial Revolution. It is rumoured that there are two blocked-up passageways into the pub from the Town Hall and that condemned prisoners were led there for a last drink before the execution was carried out. It’s a good rumour and must help to sell a lot of beer!
In the early part of the 19th Century, the Landlord of the Kings Arms was Mr. A.H.Parkes. Beer was brewed and bottled locally at the bottom of Canal Street in what has recently been converted to flats. From this bottling store, they also supplied the Trades and Labour club at the bottom of Chapel Street. Green and brown bottles with “Parkes Congleton” embossed upon them are occasionally found. During the mid 19th Century, the Parkes family still ran The Kings Arms, beer was kept cool in the Chamber of Congleton Bath House which was close by.
Visit Little Moreton Hall, south of Congleton on the A34, to see one of the country’s finest black and white buildings.
