BRIGG BUILDING EARMARKED FOR NEW BAR WAS ONCE HISTORIC HOTEL

The wheel will turn full circle in Brigg if plans to create a new bar are approved by North Lincolnshire Council and are then carried out.
Licensed premises are now earmarked for the former HSBC bank in the Market Place in a building which once housed the historic White Lion Hotel (also known as the Lion).
Horse-drawn passenger-carrying stage coaches linking Brigg with places as far away as London, used to call at the hotel until the arrival of the railway in the late 1840s provided a faster, cheaper and more comfortable alternative.
For decades the Lion was in direct competition with the adjoining Angel coaching house/hotel when it came to providing food, drink and accommodation. Perhaps there was bitter rivalry!
In the early 19th century the Lion was bought by Christian Johnson, who refurbishing the interior and set out to capture  trade then enjoyed by the Angel.
Edward Dodd revealed in his Brigg book (published in 1974) that Mr Johnson hoped to attract wealthy locals and provided stabling behind the premises for 29 horses, with coaches running "to all parts of the kingdom."

However, the owner's ambitious plans were not realised.
Brigg Blog owns an original copy of a Lincolnshire directory from the mid-1850s when Mary Squire ran the Lion Hotel; she was also listed as a brewer. There was a Red Lion in the town centre back then, so perhaps 'White' was applied to the Market Place hostelry to avoid confusion.
Sir John Nelthorpe, founder of Brigg's renowned school in 1669, was probably born in a house in the Market Place which later became the White Lion Hotel and subsequently the Midland Bank, Ted Dodd suggested in his first book about the town. 

Sir John entered the world in 1614 and 54 years later made generous provision in his will to establish a school, which opened circa 1680.
An informative leaflet produced by Brigg & District Civic Society in the 1990s highlighted the former White Lion building as being of particular historic interest, and noted: "It was closed as an inn in the 1890s."
Returning to the present, planning permission is being sought for change of use of the ground floor at 27 Market Place to a licensed bar and conversion of the upper floors to two apartments and offices, including associated alterations.
North Lincolnshire Council has still to make a decision on this application from a local man, which authority planners made public on October 14.
This was followed by a four-week consultation period during which a number of people told the planning authority they supported the development, comments suggesting it will breathe new life into a long-disused building and also create local employment.
Listed building consent is also being requested for the building, which is in the heart of the conservation area.

PICTURED: An artist's view of Brigg Market Place in the 1830s with the White Lion on the left; plus a current view of the building which is earmarked to become a licensed bar, if planners give the green light.