The Royal Oak - Holt Street, Nonington, Kent, CT15 4HT. - Pictorial Pub Signs on Waymarking.com

The Royal figure perched on a swing in a huge oak tree is probably a reference to the 'Majesty Oak', located in Fredville Park opposite. The late Alan Mitchell, a famous dendrologist, and many others, stated that the 'Majesty Oak' was the most impressive of all English Oaks (Quercus robur). The enormous trunk of the Majesty Oak has been measured at 12.3 metres. Although there are 6 oaks in Britain that have a larger girth, they are all short-trunked pollards, whereas the Majesty Oak is a maiden tree, with a long trunk, measured at almost 9 metres in height. In total, the tree is almost 19 metres tall.

History of  The Royal Oak : (from Nonington History website)

William Wanstall junior was last licencee of “The Hawks Head”, formerly “The White Horse”, next to St. Mary's church which closed in March,1832, possible because the then Hammond owner had become opposed to the sale of alcohol.  At the next annual Wingham licensing sessions in September,1832, William, along with John Wood at the nearby "Walnut Tree",  was granted a licence for a new alehouse called "The Royal Oak", possibly so named because of the close proximity of the 'Majestie Oak' in nearby Fredville Park,  in the Drove (Lower Holt Street)  just over Church Hill from “The Hawks Head”.  Church Hill was later renamed Vicarage Lane, but is always referred to by locals as "Oak Hill". .
For some six months or so after the closure of "The Hawk's Head" the only alehouse in the parish was "The Redd Lyon" at Frogham, and William Wanstall and John Wood obviously saw the need for an alehouse, or two, in the more heavily populated Church Street, Holt Street and Easole Street area. The new "Royal Oak" premises was owned by by J. P. Plumptre, Esq., of Fredville as was the long established  "Redd Lyon".
Alehouses at this time opened at six o’clock in the morning and closed at ten o’clock at night. With the granting of the licence he became liable to pay the Parish Poor Rate on the premises. William Wanstall's father, also William, was the Parish Clerk in the mid-1830’s and listed for many years in parish records as a shoemaker and cordwainer. William senior first had a house and shop premises in Easole Street but later moving to premises, now called the Old Post Office, in The Drove which adjoined the southern end of the "Oak" garden. 
The Parish Vestry, an early form of the Parish Council had for many years met  in “The Hawks Head”, and after it closed in March, 1832, "The Oak" became the venue for the fortnightly meetings when it opened in September of that year. These meetings normally began at “eleven of the clock in the forenoon” and decided on such important matters as raising revenue through parish rates for the administration of the Poor Laws and the maintenance of the roads within the parish. 
John Hopper, previously the landlord of "The Redd Lyon" at Frogham  took over "The Royal Oak" from William Wanstall on November 1st,  1836 and was land-lord for some nine years or so until he was succeeded in 1845 by John Nash, who in addition to being the pub landlord was also recorded as being the receiver of mail as " The Oak” , along with many other village alehouses served as the parish post office during the 1840’s and 50’s. Prior to its closure “The Hawks Head”  had fulfilled a similar function. 
On his death in 1855 John  Nash's widow, Harriet, took over and ran the pub until 1870 when Leonard Woodruff became licencee, and was in turn succeeded on his death by his widow, Fanny Charlotte Woodruffe. 
In his memoirs taken down 1936 by Dr. Hardman, a local historian, Richard Jarvis Arnold, born in the parish and resident there in the 1880’s and 1890’s recalls: “The public houses were the Royal Oak  kept by Woodruff and the Walnut Tree beer house kept by Sheaf”. Dr. Harman noted on the memoirs that "The Oak" had "since been rebuilt" indicating that the pub underwent alterations at some time from the late 1890’s to the early 1930’s when the memoirs were taken down. These must have been mainly internal as the building appears to have retained its original external features including windows and doors. In January of 1987 the ground floor interior underwent extensive alterations, with the unusual horse-shoe shaped bar installed during the previous alterations being replaced. 
The widowed Fanny Woodruffe married James Stow in 1876 who became the new landlord and continuing as such until his death in 1896 when the again widowed Fanny Charlotte Stow again held the licence in her own right until giving it up in 1899, when William Henry Sayer became the new land-lord. 

William Sayers, the landlord's nephew, opened a cycle repair and taxi service in 1918 in stable buildings to the rear of the pub and when the business expanded to include motor vehicle repairs and fuel sales he moved it in 1926 to the present garage premises in Holt Street, which had previously been the public laundry and continued to run the business until  his retirement in 1948 when the business was taken over by his nephews, Charles and Arthur Betts. Since Arthur’s retirement the business has been run by his son, Terry.
Subsequent landlords of "The Oak" included Arthur Balcombe, land lord during the Second World War and who's daughter, Margaret, married my uncle, Frank Webb. Reg Deal and Reg Reynolds, who's daughter Coralie still lives in the parish, were landlords during the 1950's  followed by Tony Usher and Nick Larsen  during the 1960's with Nick leaving in 1975 to be followed various managers who included Nigel Turnbull and John Nicholson.  Roy Faye became licencee at the end of the 1970's with Peter Addis taking over from him in 1988.