Old Punch Bowl

The Old Punch Bowl is a medieval timber-framed Wealden hall-house on the High Street in Crawley, a town and borough in West Sussex, England. Built in the early 15th century, it was used as a farmhouse by about 1600, passing through various owners and sometimes being used for other purposes. Since 1929 it has been in commercial use—firstly as a tearoom, then as a bank, and since 1994 as a public house. When built, it was one of at least five similar hall-houses in the ancient parish of Crawley; it is now one of the oldest and best-preserved buildings in Crawley town centre.

History

The most important industries in the early history of Crawley were farming and iron smelting. The latter had taken place since the Iron Age in northern Sussex, where iron ore, lime and wood (for charcoal) were readily available. By the 15th century, the industry had declined to some extent but was still locally significant. Although there is no direct structural evidence, a building used in the industry may have occupied the site before the present structure; slag remnants have been unearthed on the land outside it. Furthermore, the site is very close to the ancient junction of the east–west and northeast–southwest trackways and rudimentary roads which ran between the main furnaces and forges in the area, at places such as Ifield and Bewbush. These ancient tracks were superseded by the High Street, on a north–south alignment, after the Norman Conquest in the 11th century.

Punch bowl

A punch bowl is a bowl, often large and wide, in which the drink punch is served.

Origins

The word punch is a loanword from Hindi. The original drink was named paantsch, which is Hindi for "five", and the drink was made from five different ingredients: spirit, sugar, lemon, water, and tea or spices. The drink was brought back from India to England by the sailors and employees of the British East India Company in the early seventeenth century, and from there it was introduced into other European countries.

Punch bowls

Punch quickly became a popular drink. It was served in punch bowls, usually ceramic or silver, which were often elaborately decorated. Punch bowls sometimes had lids or were supported on a stand; other accessories such as a serving ladle and cups in which to serve the drink sometimes accompanied the punch bowl. Punch bowls were often painted with inscriptions or were used for testimonial purposes: the first successful whaling voyage from Liverpool was commemorated by a punch bowl presented by the owners of the ship to its captain.

Punch bowl (disambiguation)

A punch bowl is a vessel in which punch is served.

Punch bowl may also refer to:

See also