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1-3 Montpellier Villas Photo courtesy of David Hanks
Designed by the architect of the Pittville Pump Room, John Forbes, the oldest part of the building dates from 1822. In one of the earliest references to The Beehive, in 1836 a one-horse fly, a type of light carriage, was advertised for sale and could be viewed here at the "Bee-Hive Inn, Montpellier Villas". One of the first proprietors was Mr James Carter who celebrated the birthday of Princess Victoria (later Queen Victoria), in 1837, by displaying a large illuminated star at the front of the building.
As with many of the other inns in the area, the Beehive was used for meetings, including public auctions and coroner's inquests. One of these was held in December 1841 on the body of James Phillips, a butcher from Suffolk Parade. Mr Phillips had died of acute inflammation of the lungs, having foregone treatment by a medical doctor, relying instead upon the help of a local chemist and druggist. The jury was unable to determine whether the prescribed medicine had helped or contributed to his death. The chemist had, at least, adjusted the mixture to include a little less sulphuric acid! During the 19th century wool auctions are reputed to have been held in the rear upper assembly room, which is now a restaurant. This room was certainly also used for meetings of the Independent Order of Oddfellows. The 'Druids Lodge' (Imperial Lodge 112) met here from at least the 1840s and in 1850 they hosted a fancy dress ball in the room. The Oddfellows is an international fraternity, consisting of lodges, first documented in 1730 in London. The beehive symbolises working together for the common good, the declared purpose of the Oddfellows, and this may have been the inspiration for the pub's name. In 1851 the Montpellier Cricket Club was founded at a meeting at the Inn, with the intention of holding matches on open ground opposite Lansdown Place called Lypiatt Field. This area was later extensively developed for housing. In 1857 another Oddfellow lodge, the Cheltenham Harmonic, was located here and in November of that year the inn hosted an anniversary dinner of the Beehive Birthday Club, which seems to have been a men's social and dining club. A map of 1857 shows that a gentlemen's urinal was located on the pavement in front of the inn, which must have been a relief to patrons, if not to local residents! The Oddfellows formed a Rifle Volunteer group at the inn in 1860; as a secret society they could not collectively belong to the national armed forces, although individuals were at liberty to join. By the early 1860s the licence had passed to William Carter and the inn was referred to as a "brew-house". At around that time it became a favourite venue for the Conservative Working Men's Benefit Society. Mr Carter was well-regarded in the town but sadly died at his own hands in 1874, aged just 52. The Loyal Harmonic Lodge of the Oddfellows celebrated their 51st anniversary at The Beehive in 1885, with 130 members having dinner, toasts and speeches. In December 1886 there was a serious fire at the Beehive, which by then belonged to Messrs Garton & Co., brewers of Bristol. Early in the morning the gas lamp lighter was on his round, turning out the street lights, when at 6.20am he noticed a light shining through the door of the inn. He raised the alarm and all of the residents escaped without injury. The alarm was sounded at the fire station at 6.45 and the brigade turned out promptly, followed by the police. They found the bar in flames and the cellar and a bedroom above also burning. It took an hour to get the fire under control and there was considerable damage, estimated to cost around £200. The following year there was a dispute between a prospective purchaser of the lease, stock, fixtures, licence and goodwill of the pub and the lessor. It was claimed that the weekly takings had been exaggerated to £14 to inflate the sale price but the case was rejected in court. In 1889, after a change of management, the assembly room (with ante-room and orchestra) was offered to be let on reasonable terms. It seems that there were no further meetings here of the Oddfellows, although the Prestbury lodge continued to be active at the Beehive Inn in Bouncers Lane. However the meeting room was refurbished and in May 1900 about 80 tradesmen from the area assembled there in honour of the Queen's birthday for a dinner provided by the landlord Henry Edwards. On 1st November 1905 the Beehive was raided by the police and six men were arrested, suspected of illegal horse-race gambling on the premises. The local Superintendent, assisted by several sergeants and officers, was armed with a search warrant and the half-dozen customers arrested were taken by cab to the police station. The names of at least 20 other customers were taken in order to ascertain whether they were connected with the betting.
The landlord, Henry Edwards, was found in bed suffering from rheumatic gout, whilst his wife was behind the bar. The police had kept watch from the top floor of an empty house in Montpellier Terrace and had seen many men and boys going in and out of the pub in the morning. Inside they found betting slips, sporting papers and cash. Henry Edwards was acquitted of any offence and was still the landlord in 1913, when he was fined £5 18s for adulterating whiskey. He had been found guilty of a similar offence in 1901, when he claimed that he had made a mistake whilst diluting the whiskey down to the required strength, during the very busy Cricket Week at Cheltenham College. Nevertheless Henry Edwards was popular and continued as landlord until 1925, when his wife died. He lived for a further 5 years. By 1937 the Beehive Hotel was owned by the Cheltenham Original Brewery Company Ltd.  Photo courtesy of the late Geoff North
Public house tokens were widely used in Britain from about 1845 to 1914. They were typically made of brass and had a variety of uses. The one shown here was probably used at The Beehive to buy beer at social events.
The Beehive remains one of the areas very popular pubs and restaurants. Research: Stuart Manton (Jan 2021)
The Beehive Hotel, c. 1970. (Photograph by the late Michael Grange)
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