Crown Point, Manchester Rd, Denton
The origins of the King’s Head Hotel can be traced back to the late 18th century and Pigot’s Trade Directory for 1824 lists it as the George III Inn, the new landlord at this time being Mark Cooke, who had replaced Gabriel Lupton during the course of the year. This suggests that the original premises were built sometime during the reign of King George III, which was from 1760 until 1820. In 1791, Gabriel Lupton a businessman from the village of Nun Monkton (8 miles NW of York) purchased a plot of land on the east side of Ashton Rd adjoining Crown Point on which he built shops and houses. It is possible that around this time he purchased the George III Inn and became its landlord. He was the landlord until 1824 when he was succeeded by Mark Cooke. The Manchester & Salford Trade Directory for 1832 lists Mark Cooke as the victualler of the King’s Head and Gabriel Lupton (Note 1Gabriel Lupton (1766-1837) was buried in St Lawrence's chuchyard on the 12 Jan 1837 and the Rector, Revd William Parr Greswell, officiated.) as a retailer of beer but does not give the address of his premises. A reference to the King’s Head in 1832 establishes that at some point between 1824 and 1832 the name of the inn was changed from George III to King’s Head.

By 1865 the inn and three adjoining cottages had been leased to Timothy Harrison and in that year, when the lease expired, there was an auction at the inn to sell the land and properties (Note 2Timothy Harrison died at Denton in 1899, aged 87 years.). Thomas Chesters made the successful bid and by 1869 he had demolished the old buildings and erected much larger licensed premises on the corner of Manchester Rd and Stockport Rd. Henceforth, the premises were known as the King's Head Hotel.

The King’s Head Hotel was built integral with a block of mostly shops called Victoria Buildings bounded by Manchester Rd, Stockport Rd, Victoria St and Market St. An entrance to the back of the hotel was provided on Victoria St and the stone lintel over the opening bears the date, ‘1869’.

Bowling Green.

The first landlord of the new premises was George Kirkpatrick who was also notable for his other business interest, the Denton Omnibus Company, which he operated from the King's Head. In 1874 George Kirkpatrick moved to the Bowling Green public house on Manchester Rd (situated between Ann St and Ruby St) taking his horse-hauled omnibus business with him and leaving his son, Robert, as landlord of the King's Head (Note 3George Kirkpatrick died at Denton in 1890, aged 57 years.). Robert remained landlord of the King’s Head until 1900 and the next landlord was George Edward Savage.

The first recorded landlord of the Bowling Green was a Jonathan Bardsley in 1807 and at that time it was named the Blue Ball or Blue Bow. The earliest recorded year for it being called the Bowling Green was in 1841. Commencing in 1874, a horse-drawn omnibus left there for Manchester at 8:00am, 10:00am, 1:10pm, 3:10pm, 4:45pm and 6:40pm. In 1983 its name was changed to Denton Tramway as an acknowledgement of George Kirkpatrick’s Denton Omnibus Company. Over the years the Bowling Green has undergone several name changes and these include, Hughes's Bar, Music Lounge and Bowler, but since July 2020 it has been known as the Pit Stop.

In the 1970s the name King’s Head came to be associated with Denis Law CBE, the ‘King of Football’ and a portrait of him was diplayed on the corner. During his distinguished career Denis Law played football for both Manchester United and City as well as for Huddersfield Town and Torino, Italy. His national team was Scotland. In 1982 the premises were modernised and the name was changed to Kings Inn to reflect ‘Kings of Celebrity’. Subsequently, there were three further name changes, these being Crown Point Inn, Last Orders Inn and The George Kirkpatrick, respectively.

King's Head Hotel, 1878.

Stockport Rd is to the left and Manchester Rd is to the right.

The King’s Head Hotel, 1970s.

A portrait of Denis Law CBE is displayed on the first-floor corner.