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34-36 Andover Road

The present Tivoli is not the first establishment in this shopping area to bear the name. That honour goes to 6 Tivoli Place (presently 44 Andover Road), further along the street, which was until 1979 the Tivoli Inn.

The building we now know as ‘The Tivoli’ is formed from the two former shops at 2 and 3 Tivoli Place. Although the trade directories are somewhat inconclusive and the earlier house numbering a little erratic, it seems that 2 Tivoli Place was occupied in about 1847 as a grocers run by Mr John Bignell. He was still running his grocery business here in 1895 and had obviously become part of the Tivoli Place scene.

From 1897, 2 Tivoli Place became a Baker and Pastry Cook’s shop run by Mr G Green, who was also a corn, hay and straw merchant. He was still here in 1915 but by the following year the business had been taken over by Mr S Tidd, also a corn dealer. The shop continued as such under Mr Tidd until the early 1920s, and then under the direction of Mr Sewell until the early 1950s. It later became almost derelict and was absorbed into the adjoining Tivoli pub, number 3, in 1990.

By as early as 1849, number 3 Tivoli Place was also a grocery shop, run by Mr M Wilkins and the two neighbouring grocers must have competed for the same customers. Mr Wilkins was replaced as the grocer first by Mrs Fluck, in around 1859, then by Mr D Lane, and then by Mrs Laurence.

By 1874, 3 Tivoli Place is described in Cheltenham Directories as being run by Thomas Shepherd, who by 1876 was described as a publican. By 1885 it had become the ‘Ale and Porter Stores’ run by J Watts and later by his wife Isabella. The business continued as ‘Tivoli Ale and Porter Stores’ or sometimes just as ‘Beer Retailer’. In the mid 1950s, the brewery which owned the business decided to update the property and the landlord, Mr Grinnell couldn’t cope with all the disruption involved.

Mrs Lytheer, who ran the Lamb Vaults in the centre of town, then took over and renovations began in earnest. When completed, she asked Mr Burrows, a neighbour who lived opposite, what the new name should be. He in his wisdom suggested ‘The Phoenix’ and ‘The Phoenix’ it became. This name remained under the next tenant Peter Ives from 1982 – 1995.

The then owners of number 2, the brewery, paid for structural work to be done to extend the Phoenix into the neighbouring property and the modernised, enlarged Phoenix was opened in 1990, under Peter Ives’ direction.

​New tenants took over in 1995 and again in 2001, when the name changed to ‘The Tivoli’. Due to the recession it closed its doors in April 2009, only to re-open in July having been taken over by a new company, London Town. The new landlords intended to advertise The Tivoli as a ‘local’ pub rather than promote the rugby bias it had enjoyed immediately prior to closure.

By December 2009, The Tivoli had closed yet again and it re-opened on 9th December 2010 after a £1m refurbishment. It has since had another makeover in 2024 and has upgraded its food offering.

The Tivoli

For more information click here.

The Phoenix

Researcher: Jill Waller
Additional Material: Stuart Manton (Jan 2025)

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