A town centre Wetherspoons has applied to extend its outdoor seating licence.
The Kings Head Wetherspoons in Beccles hopes that East Suffolk Council will approve its request and permit 26 tables and 68 chairs around its premises.
The national pub chain wants to put its outdoor seating along the side of the building on Sheepgate, as well as chairs in its back garden.
Any representations to the pavement licence application must be made in writing to East Suffolk Council by September 9.
The proposed times for outdoor seating around the historic pub and hotel are 8am-10pm.
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History of the Kings Head Hotel in Beccles
The 16th-century King's 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 King’s 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 King’s 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.
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However, it is quite possible that the King's 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 King’s Head burned down around this time.
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