Lot No. 62 in the sale of the estate of Robert Sheriffe 02.09.1840.
Tenant then Robert Mullinger.
Sold to Cann & Clarke for £510.

(Lot No 63 was a cottage, FORMERLY the STAR Public House)



Mr. Howlett made an application Wednesday 13th November 1867, on the behalf of William Newton, for a licence to sell spirits at the Star.
The previous tenant had allowed the licence to lapse and it had been in abeyance since 11th October. Application refused.
On Wednesday 11th December 1867 William Newton again applied and upon presentation of the necessary forms, the licence was granted. The Chairman of the magistrates commented that it was strange that the house had not been rated sufficiently high to obtain an excise licence to sell (only) beer and it was perhaps worth the parish officers looking at the rating.

An application for a (Full) licence Wednesday 24th August 1870, made by Mr. Howlett (Solicitor?) of Wymondham, was adjourned to September owing to there being no proof as to the amount at which the house had been assessed.

Licence application by William Oakley refused 28th September 1870.

At the Norfolk Quarter Sessions held Wednesday 19th October 1870 William Oakley appealed against the decision that took away the licence from his predecessor in 1869.
It was heard that there were 54 licensed houses in the division of Diss and nine public houses within two miles of the spot where it sought to open the house for which the licence was now applied for. There were about 350 souls in village and the RAILWAY TAVERN was a mile from the building sought to be the STAR.
There were about two acres of land annexed to the building which had previously been assessed at £7 5s but the assessment committee had raised that to Ten Guineas.
It was said that the STAR had held a full licence for fifty years to1869 and it was wrong to deprive the village of a requirement as a result of the misdemeanors of one person.
The licence was granted and costs were ordered to be paid by the county treasurer.
(It appears from the above that the STAR had three different sites in its lifetime.)

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On Saturday 3rd December 1949 Detective Constable H. Spencer entered the house at about 10:50 p.m. and discovered Archie Kemp holding a glass, about one third full, of mild beer. Four other men were in the passage way, laughing and joking. The landlord Sidney Jones had gone to bed early and Mrs. Jones was in the cellar when the policeman entered. She claimed that no beer had been served after 10:00 p.m. and she was unaware that Knapp had any left.
In the Magistrates court, 12th January 1950, Mr. Jones was fined £5, his wife £2 and Mr. Knapp £2.
It appears that Mr. Jones was trading under a temporary licence since his application for a full transfer was adjourned until the annual licensing session.

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