Early History

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The Duke of York public house can be traced to the early 19th century but there is evidence for a maltings and an inn on the site from the 18th century. Presently, research shows that the Bacon family of Markfield held the premises before 1812. However, existing deeds do not make it clear whether the site in 1812 was an amalgamation of two properties, held by the Parsons and Dawson/Sharp families, or if one of those families owned the site outright. 

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When Joseph Knight, a bricklayer purchased a property on High Street in 1812, the deeds describe the premises as newly built and that the building was an Inn known as the 'Duke of York'. Knight had bought the property from the Bacon family mentioned above.

Although Joseph Knight is revealed as the new owner in 1812, he also appears to be occupying a building called the Duke of York in newspaper adverts before this time (in 1808), and his name appears in Sileby victuallers lists from 1795. Therefore it is likely that he had purchased the property as the sitting tenant in 1812. As a bricklayer, he may also have been responsible for part or all of the new build around 1812 or before. Another possibility is that the old building was modernised, and a brick shell was added around the existing building making it 'newly built.' Stone walls uncovered in the 1950s and more recently in 2016 may be from the original building.

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Joseph held the inn until his death in 1824 when ownership passed to his widow Sarah who subsequently died in 1833 giving possession to her son William. From then on William leased the inn to a number of tenants. An advert of 1855 shows the inn 'For Let' and described the premises as the main inn building itself, a garden and orchard along with a butchers shop, with an annual turnover of £160. William Knight eventually sold the inn in 1862 to John Brown of Leicester who, in turn, sold it to William Sharpe of Sileby, a cordwainer, in 1868.

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The Sharpe family Legacy

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When William Sharpe and his wife Mary took on the Duke of York, the property also included an existing maltings building at the rear. This was later to become the heart of the W. Sharpe and Sons brewing business. In 1876 a family settlement saw their sons William Henry and Frederic take over William's brewing enterprise when they became equal partners in the brewery. After William and Mary's deaths the brewery took over ownership of the pub. Thereafter, Sharpes brewery leased the premises to tenants up until the voluntary liquidation of the brewery and malting business in 1920-1 and its subsequent transfer to Strettons Brewery. 

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​Strettons and Beyond

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Following Sharpes demise, the history and destiny of the Duke of York pub became linked with its tied pub business owners. Strettons of Derby held the pub until it was acquired by Samuel Allsopp & Sons in 1927, and then they merged with Ind Coope in 1934. The Ind Coope and Allsopp company were later incorporated into Allied Breweries in 1961. This group continued with mergers and take overs and changed names to reflect this. It was as Allied Domecq that they sold the 'Duke,' to Pubmaster in 1994. Nine years later in 2003 the Pubmaster business was purchased by Punch Taverns, heralding a new direction for the pub. The 'Duke' had a major rebranding which included a change of name, when it became 'The Malt House'. However, the fortunes of the pub did not improve and it had closed down by 2009. The building was then used as a Thai restaurant for a short time before being converted into three houses in 2016.