THE SARACEN'S HEAD

Churchgate Street, Soham, Cambridgeshire, CB7 5HJ

'The Saracen's Head' public house can be seen as the second property on the right hand side of Churchgate Street. As far back as 1879 and maybe for some years previously Mr George Mainprice was a brewer in Soham, and in those times he was the "sole purveyor of wines and spirits" in the town. He was also an auctioneer and estate agent, and in the early dictionaries it states that he owned a shop in Churchgate Street. This property was probably known as 'The Saracen's Head'.
Some four years later Mr Mainprice disappears from the dictionaries and Mr William Cutlack junior had a brewery in Paddock Street, and it appears that 'The Saracen's Head' belonged to the brewery.
This can be seen when in 1896 Messers Treadway and Percy owned the brewery and 'The Saracen's Head' was the licence office for the brewery. 'The Saracen's Head' clearly has the names of these two men on it's shop front. In the foreground next to the brewery was for many years Reuben Long's Corn Merchants as shown in the picture above.
The pub has been described as "more of a poor gin shop than a beer house", however there is still little doubt that the "gin shop" did exceedingly well because Soham has never lacked in places to enjoy a pint of beer.
People still talk of 'The Saracen's Head', and that surely must prove the pub's eminence in the locality. Many alterations have taken place in Churchgate Street over the years and the disposal of the old pub is not least among them.