In August 1881 these premises served as the location of one of the town's most infamous murders, that of 15 year old Annie Ratcliffe. Annie came to Preston with her parents from Darwen. She became pregnant at age 15 by her lover, a 21 year old Preston Clerk, John Aspinall Simpson. On the morning of August 3rd Annie set out to marry John and left the Blue Bell Inn which was kept by her parents. On the way to St. Paul's Church Annie met John and they both went into the Sir Walter Scott Arms. An altercation then took place wherupon Aspinall cut Annie's throat with a razor he had bought that morning. After doing the deed, Aspinall nonchalantly sat by and waited for the police to arrive. The subsequent trial found him guilty and he was hanged by William Marwood at Strangeways prison in Manchester on November 23rd 1881. A number of poems and songs were penned about the incident:
She met her sweetheart, and quite free from alarms,
With him she went in The Sir Walter Scott Arms.
And in a short time, as the facts do appear,
The girl's throat he severed from ear to ear.
The song is reporduced in full in Bob Dobson's excellent book
A Preston Mixture
The pub was demolished 1959-60 in preparation for the new bus station. Note the delivery van for the Kardomah Tea and Coffee store.
Copyright Lancashire County Library and Information Service.
www.lantern.lancashire.gov.uk/ 