The Crown

NEWPORT HISTORY SOCIETY INNS AND BEER HOUSES WALKING TOUR

45/47 HIGH STREET NEWPORT

Previously ‘THE CROWN INN’ Licensed premises c.1661 – c.1851

Numbers 45 and 47 originally consisted of two half-timbered dwellings originating from 16th or 17th-century, evidence for which can be found in the front sandstone cellar. The earliest documentary evidence for The Crown is 1661 in the will of William Adams (Grammar School founder).  In the 18th century, it was rebuilt in brick, whilst the distinctive white stuccoed front was added at a later date.  A crown sits on a plasterwork pediment above the main entrance, one of the remaining features of the former inn.

The bars, kitchens and brew house were located on the ground floor, but the open-plan 20th century office has removed all evidence of this. In the rear cellar there is an ancient sandstone well, which was used in the past for brewing beer and cooking.

The wide carriage entrance to the left is a reminder of the coaching inn phase. Its passage retains blue brick running lines for the carriages surrounded by original cobbles along with an elaborate wrought iron gate. In the yard were stable ranges with hay lofts and coach-houses, which led down to an exit on Beaumaris Road (not there now).  The inn advertised that it had stabling for 80 horses.  A coach, ‘The Brilliant Coach,’ ran from Birmingham to Liverpool every day and stopped at The Crown to change horses and provide refreshments. In the 1850s the inn became two shops again. All the rear ancillary buildings were demolished around 2000 to make way for the new Crown Mews properties.

Researched by Newport & District History Society and Victoria County History (Shropshire) and funded by Newport Town Council and Newport History Society