Now part of Nottingham, Arnold has a long history. It was recorded in the Domesday Book (1086) as Ernehale – a name generally accepted to mean eagle’s nest.

Text about the history of the building

The text reads: The premises occupied by this J D Wetherspoon pub were built in 1904 to house the Lenton & Nottingham Co-operative Store. There were various departments – footwear, haberdashery, groceries and butchers – with stables and a coach house to the rear.

The Co-operative movement was inspired by the ideas of Robert Owen, a Welsh-born master spinner who set up a model village at his New Lanark Mills in Scotland. The example of Owen’s New Lanark village store led to the setting up of the first Co-operative shop, which opened in Rochdale in 1844, with capital of £1 contributions from its 28 founder members.

All Co-ops were based on the principle of profit-sharing known as ‘the divi’ or dividend). Customers were given tokens or tickets with each purchase, and were repaid a percentage of the money they had spent, the remaining profits being reinvested.

Early Co-ops also provided an alternative to the ‘tommy-shops’ (company stores) supplying poor goods at high prices. The Co-op’s commitment to social improvement considerably benefitted working people in towns and cities throughout Britain.

Old photographs of the pub, when it was once the Lenton & Nottingham Co-operative Store

Original features of the building are still in place today

External photograph of the building – main entrance