The building has a large black and gold clock set into the gable, and a small bellturret upon which is a gilt fox-shaped weather vane. The bell was intended to be rung as an air-raid siren during the Second World War. In the early 19th century the pub's signboard carried the arms of the Congreve family, as well as branding for a company named "Adams". In the "British Parliamentary Papers" of 1817, the Committee on the State of the Police in the Metropolis reported evidence of a John Adams—a Reading-based distiller and hop merchant—who competed for business against Simonds' Brewery. By 1850, the pub brewed beer on-site; a brewery was built as an out-building behind the main pub building. John Knight produced beer at the pub for 40 years, selling it for 2d. The brewery building is still in existence, with the wooden louvres still operational. The building is now the pub's kitchen. In the 1970s, the pub was owned by Whitbread. In the mid-1990s the pub was taken over by Gales Brewery (having previously been a free house), later becoming tied to Fuller's Brewery on their acquisition of Gales in 2006. In the 1970s, the pub was home to the Kennet Folk Club.