The Offley Arms

The Joules Tap in Madeley was refurbished in 2020 with the opening delayed [and delayed] due to the pandemic finally re-opening in 2021.  The pub narrowly survived fire so is used to a crisis.  Joules, with the brewery just 20 minutes away, was approached by the village to invest in the pub fearing, having been 30 minutes from destruction by fire, it would then succumb to a housing developer.

Deputy Chairman, Graham Fallows, approached Joule’s on behalf of the village and made a case for the local brewer to step in and save the fire-damaged pub. ‘We knew Joule’s has a fondness for old inns and they are the most local to us, many of our members know Joule’s and it felt like a good fit – and of course it’s our local beer, a local brewer for a local pub. We knew that Joule’s has made several pub investments locally so we thought maybe they could help save the Offley. We were delighted when they responded to us so warmly and quickly, they showed great interest and moved incredibly quickly when we had almost no time before the property was due to go to auction. We approached Joules on the 15th of October 2019 and 7 days later they had bought it.”

The Offley is an absolute delight, full of charm and character overlooking the famous Madeley Pool, it is a classic country inn, great local beer and home-cooked food.  The building dates from the 16^th century.  It has an original oak frame which is evident in the attic space and the frame is intact.  In the 18^th century the frame was clad in brick which is how it is presented today, the stable building would have been built around the same time [now the Lantern room].  This coincided with the growing importance of the toll road, the stables are sized for commercial use and the pub functioned as a coaching inn providing sustenance to travellers and services to the coaching teams.

The pub’s name originates from the great Offley family estate, the family-owned great tranches of land, Sir Thomas Offley bought the manor of Madeley in 1547 and established this as the family country seat.  The family estate expanded by way of marriage with the Crewe family and the Offley Arms remained a part of the estate for over 400 years until 9^th June 1922.

The Pub was sold by Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe, KG, PC, FSA (12 January 1858 – 20 June 1945), known as Lord Houghton from 1885 to 1895 and as The Earl of Crewe from 1895 to 1911, was a British Liberal politician, statesman and writer.  The new owner was Henry Beveridge who later sold to Ind Coope in 1960, then sold in a block to Punch Taverns before it became a brewery pub again with Joules Brewery.

If your passing lookout for several generations of hand-painted pubs signs, one of which was restored by the village and now hangs proudly at the entrance.