In 1720 the Queen's Head Inn was the property of Ironmaster Edward Knight of Lea Castle, and he referred to it in his will; together with the adjoining cottages and land.

This is the first reference to the Queen's Head Inn, though it would pre-date this by a considerable number of years. A licensed inn was mentioned in War Office Records, 1686, with stabling for two horses. The only other license in Wolverley was a beer house dating from 1852.

The manor of Wolverley was given by Burhredus to Alhune, 11th Bishop of Worcester in 854, and recorded in the Domesday Book, 1086. The village would certainly have supported a mediaeval tavern, probably on the site of the present day Queens Head.

The pub sign dates back to Elizabeth I (1533-1603); but she was reported not pleased with the way she was represented, and ordered it and the others to be knocked down and burnt.

In 1823, Ironmaster Samual Hancocks paid £800.0.0 for the Queen's Head, cottages and land; leasing to Thomas Worral, who, two months later purchased, together with barn, stables and outhouses, for £950.0.0

Innkeeper William Goode, 40, held the tenancy in 1841; helped by his wife May, and one servant, the brewer - the small brewery in the yard at the rear.

Christopher Perkins 47, from Northampton was host by1850, moving in with his wife Mary,42 from Welchpool and Kinlet born family; Christopher 6, Richard 4, John 3 and Thomas 1. John Lewis, 18, lodged in the village, he was their brewer and hostler.

Christopher Perkins had passed on by 1861, his widow Mary was landlady. Sons John and Thomas were still at school. She had the help of two servants and brewer John Sherwood, 54, from Stourport.

His beer would have been a single style mild - dark, sweet and strong, based on a Black Country recipe. The average gravity was 1060, the second strongest in England.

Mary Ann Proctor, the daughter of publican Enos Stephens, sold the Queen's Head to Thomas Stokes, Furniture Broker, Horsefair, Kidderminster, in May 1878. He in turn conveyed the alehouse, and the three cottages adjoining, to George Davies of Brierley Hill, for £1,350.0.0

George Davies remained at the Queen's Head Inn untill 24th June 1895, when he retired aged 54, selling to newly formed North Worcestershire Breweries, Duke Street, Stourbridge, for £2,500.0.0 NWB were acquired by Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries in 1910.

Rebuilt and extended into the cottages alongside, the Queen's Head has seen many changes over the centuries, but has remained - as originally intended - a social centre of a community.

Research: John Richards