Four Horseshoes - Borstal Hill, Whitstable, Kent, UK - Pictorial Pub Signs on Waymarking.com

On the sign is a horse and a farrier at work. The stable door is open revealing a view into the fields beyond. In the foreground are four horseshoes on a table. There is good tone in the picture with the sunlight casting a white glow within the highlighted scene, revealing a somewhat muscular horse.

Brian Smith, a local historian, describes the pub in his article on the Turnpike roads of Whitstable, available here: visit link

'After The Two Brewers, Turnpike travelers heading towards Canterbury up the once notoriously steep Bostall hill had to wait until 1823 for The Horse Shoes public house for relief from their arduous climb. Situated adjacent to an old forge about half way up the hill, The Horse Shoes later became The Four Horse Shoes popular with early 20th century cyclists. (The hill gradually became less arduous following removal of some of the crown and flattening the hump part way up several times over the years from the late 19th and 20th centuries.) Further uphill from the Four Horse Shoes and still on the western side we would find the Gaol House, long a private residence. Little is known of this building except that there was a gibbet in an adjacent field reputedly used for its grisly purpose.'

The Four Horseshoes is a Shepherd Neame pub, whose pub signs we came to admire greatly whilst in Kent. They describe the pub as follows:visit link

'The Four Horseshoes, in the popular seaside town of Whitstable, is an old listed building originally built in 1638 as a forge and blacksmith’s house – hence the name. Like all old pubs it is said to be haunted – in this case by a black dog. Nowadays it is better known for its great beer and has been listed in The Good Beer Guide for the last eight years.'

Date of first pub on site: 1823 Name of Artist: Not listed Date of current sign: Not listed

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