The Nags Head dates from the 18th century.
In 1832 the licensee was Gaetano Amabilino (originally from Palermo, Sicily) and the inn was known as the Hastings Arms.
In 1841, when the landlord was Henry Taylor, it was called the Nags Head.
By 1847, Mr Amabilino was back (having spent a few years running a pub in Castle Donington) and called the pub the Oddfellows Arms.
Around 1850 he seems to have moved to the White Lion and been replaced Thomas Outram. The pubs was still called the Oddfellows Arms. A year later the inquest for the murder of Sarah Walters was held here.
In the mid-1850s Benjamin Outram took over.
By 1857 William Ironmonger had moved here from the Trent Navigation and it was known as the Nags Head again.
After William died in 1866 his widow, Martha (nee Bradshaw), ran the pub until her death in 1879.
The row of cottages beyond the Nags Head was known as Ironmongers Row. The first cottage was a butcher’s shop and many years later it became part of the pub.
The next tenant was Henry Bonser, although he lost his licence for a while in 1884 after having been convicted of an offence.
In 1893 the licence was transferred from T Bonser to John & Elizabeth Porter, previously of the Black Swan in Derby. Around 1900 their son, William Porter, operated a horse cab from stables behind the inn. After John died in 1906, Elizabeth ran the pub, assisted by her married daughter, Elizabeth Camp.
Another Porter daughter – Kate – became Mrs Chamberlain and ran, at various times, the Victoria Inn, Queens Hotel and Nelson Hotel in Long Eaton. The two other Porter children went on to run pubs in Derby.
In 1912 Elizabeth (John’s widow) married William Dore and continued to hold the licence in her new name. It was an unsuccessful marriage as both believed each other had money. In 1917 she was fined £3 2s for breaking the licensing laws by supplying intoxicating liquor at 11.50am. She retired to Shirley Farm in 1922 and was succeeded at the Nags by Cyril Frederick Lowe.
Cyril had been living with his parents on College Street and working as a lacemaker at the Phoenix Mills when he married Elsie Garfield in 1922. They took over the license of the Nags Head as Elsie’s parents already ran the Traveller’s Rest in Draycott. In the 1930s the Lowes moved to Ravensdale Ave, where Elsie ran a sub post office and sweetshop and Cyril returned to the lace trade, as a warp knitter at British Celanese.
From 1933 to 1940 the licence was held by Hector Gray Anderson, who also worked as a clerk at Chilwell depot.
From 1940 the tenants were William Joseph and Mary Jane Pearce. One of their first actions was to advertise for a pianist for Saturday nights.
From around 1963 until his death in 1975 the tenant was Charles Peter Brough (Charlie).
From 1976 to 1992 it was Danny and Janet O’Boyle.
