A SHORT HISTORY OF BRIDGEND TOWNS PUBLIC HOUSES AND INNS. PART 2
PART TWO
OLDCASTLE
NOLTON STREET
( Photo 1 ) . A 1879 map of Bridgend showing the areas of Newcastle and Oldcastle in relation to each other and highlighting the position of Nolton street in Bridgend town.
The Roads
( Photo 2 ) . Nolton Street, I took this photo in the late 90`s, nothing much as changed over last few hundred years, most of the pub`s mentioned below were all on this short stretch of road.
THE OLD CASTLE AREA OF BRIDGEND.
SECTION TWO
Part 1
OLDCASTLE
(Photo 3) . A 1879 map of Bridgend showing the areas of Newcastle and Oldcastle in relation to each other, and highlighting the position of Nolton street in Bridgend town.
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The Roads
Ewenny road, West road and Nolton street are the original road system that existed in the medieval period of Bridgend town.
The roads lead from Bridgend to the southern and western areas of south Wales and these ancient roads are where you will find the location of the majority of the older public houses and inn's.
The taverns and inn's lined the roads that lead into the town to catch the passing custom of travellers.
Cowbridge road is a relatively new road compared to Bridgend's original medieval thoroughfares.
The road was built in 1832 to create an easier and more direct route from Cowbridge town in the vale of Glamorgan to the market town of Bridgend.
The old route prior to the new road of 1832 came out of Cowbridge and followed the Golden Mile then down Crack hill to Brocastle, and then through the green twisty lanes to the village of Corntown.
From Corntown the road splits into three directions, one road heads south towards the villages of Saint Brides Major and Wick, the second road heads west and passes the nearby village of Merthyr Mawr and then over the Dipping Bridge, which is also known as the New Inn Bridge.
From the dipping bridge the road carries onto the village of laleston and then onto West road which eventually comes out on the top of Newcastle Hill.
The third road heads north and runs up the hill past Ewenny pottery and into an area called Whiterock (opposite Brynteg school) and then onto Bridgend Town.
There were two public houses on Cowbridge road, both were on the outskirts of Bridgend Town, the furthest being the Butchers Arms and then the Coach and Horse's, the Coach and Horses is the only pub on this road which is still open to the public.
Ewenny road also had two inns, the Five Bells and the New inn, the Five Bells is open and still serving customers, the New inn closed many decades before.
Nolton street was the main thoroughfare into the town from the Vale of Glamorgan, the narrow street as had no less than seven public houses in a very short distance from each other.
In 2020 only two of these pubs have managed to survive and are still opening their doors to customers.
The Oldcastle inn and the Kings head.
Nolton is said to be a corruption of New town.
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The Ale Houses of Oldcastle
1- The Oldcastle ( Nolton Street ).
2- The Ancient Briton ( Nolton Street ).
3- The Welcome to Town ( Nolton Street ).
4- The Nolton Castle ( Nolton Castle ).
5- The Joiners Arms ( Nolton Street ).
6- The Kings Head ( Nolton Street ).
7- The Glove and Shears ( Nolton Street ).
8- The Butchers Arms ( Cowbridge Road ).
9- The Coach and Horses ( Cowbridge Road ).
10- The Five Bells ( Ewenny Road ).
11- The New inn (Ewenny Road).
There are two other pubs that are referred too in Nolton street, the Black Horse which operated between the years1903-1918 and, was located at 52 Nolton street and the Spread Eagle, with the landlord by the name of David John in 1844.
There is very little information available for these two pubs, it is very possible that they are name changes of existing pubs, or they were very short-lived beer houses, still looking for more information.
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(Photo 4). Possible location of the Butchers arms on the Cowbridge road.
THE BUTCHERS ARM’S
The Butchers Arms would have been found on the Cowbridge road right on the fringes of Bridgend town, on the same road as the Coach and Horses public house.
The Butchers arms would have been the first pub that a traveller would come across if they were using the road coming from Cowbridge.
There is very little information about this pub at the moment, it is known that the pub had its own skittle ally and the landlord in 1870 was Mr William Phillips, there is an incident recorded in the Western mail involving Mr Williams being on a train arriving at Bridgend railway station.
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The Western mail
19/12/1870
In December 1970, the landlord of the Butchers arm’s was summoned to Bridgend court for being drunk on a train travelling from Newport to Bridgend, Mr William Phillips was charged with being in a train carriage in a state of intoxication.
He was fined 20s (shillings) and court costs, he was also charged with interfering with a passenger (he grabbed a passenger by the collar and shook him violently).
Mr Phillips was fined 20s and £2.6s.2d, the money was paid by some of Phillips friends who were in court.
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The pub was facing the roadside, the Cowbridge road was built in 1832.
The location of the pub was located directly opposite the Bridgend Collage and is now a private house.
There is a brass pub token with the inscription (the Butchers arms, Bridgend) kept in the museum of Cardiff, held in storage, not on display.
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Name Origin
The pub name The Butchers Arm's is a very popular name, like many other pubs that have trade-man`s skills displayed as a name, the Masons arm's, the Carpenters arm’s etc, these names are very common in the U.K.
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(Photo 5 ) . George Yeats 1799 map, showing possible location of the New Inn.
The New Inn Ewenny road
The New Inn in Bridgend was located on Ewenny road, and should not be confused with other pubs of the same name in the area, I will include all the New Inn pubs that are in the outlying villages of Bridgend in this section as it is very difficult to be 100% positive that the information about any of the New Inn's relates to anyone particular Pub.
The pub name the New Inn is very common in the u.k., the pub name can be found in almost all towns and village throughout Britain.
There was a pub called the new Inn in Laleston, the inn's name was later changed to the Oystercatcher, Laleston is a village on the outskirts of Bridgend, around two miles away. (Laleston will have its own section in the future, and will not be included here), there was also a New Inn public house, in the village of Aberkenfig.
A little way down the Ewenny road there was a pottery called the new inn pottery, this was located just above the well known Ewenny pottery that still exists today, the Ewenny pottery is on the hill above the village of Ewenny.
There was a fire incident at the New Inn pottery in 1892.
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South Wales Daily News
29-10-1892
A fire at the New Inn pottery works near Bridgend.
Fire broke out from the near the kiln., destroying the roof of the drying shed adjoining the dwelling house.
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The New inn on Ewenny road was some distance out from its neighbouring pub the Five Bells, so the New Inn would be the first inn that the travellers riding on the stage coach would arrive at when using this road coming from Ewenny and Corntown.
Today in 2023, there is an old building called the new inn guest house running alongside Ewenny road, it is a long building with 16 guests rooms, it was originally a 19th century pottery barn, if the building had any connection with the inn, it is not known at the moment, it is possible that the New Inn guest house was originally the new inn pottery that the fire took place in the above newspaper report in 1892.
There is very little information to go on with both the New Inn and the Butchers arms, and I am sorry to say I have neglected to do any in-depth research on both the pubs, in the future I will endeavour to obtain more information and update this section.
The New Inn Merthyr Mawr
There was also an Inn at Merthyr Mawr called the New Inn, which can-not be ignored because of the legend that is attached to it.
The Merthyr Mawr New Inn is thought to have been located near the Ogmore river on the west bank of the river, there is no physical evidence of this Inn above ground, it has been stated that the building stones of the inn were removed to build other structures else where, this was a common occurrence with old dilapidated buildings, many castles were robbed of their stone work as it was a cheap way of obtaining ready shaped brick work.
There is a local legend that is associated with the Inn, and it's innkeeper by the name of Cap Coch (Red Cap).
The legend states that many travellers that used this coach road did not continue their journeys once they arrived at the New Inn, and took up permanent residence at the inn's grounds and the surrounding woodland, and some were allegedly thrown into the nearby river Ogmore and were washed out too sea, at a much later date when the inn was no longer being used as a stagecoach stop-over to change horses the visitors stop arriving and the Inn eventually closed and fell into a ruin, it is said that many of the possessions of the murdered travellers were found in a cave hidden behind the inn's kitchen wall.
It is an interesting story and greatly embellished over the years, but there is no physical evidence or documentation to support these events, there is no reference to the inn except for the inn's name printed on George Yates map of 1799 (see photo 3).
There is also no evidence of the remains of the murdered victims being interned at any local burial sites or newspaper reports of the discovery of the victims.
So, if it is a legend based on any true events, maybe a TV series like Time Team can dig up some evidence of the Inn ever existing.
During when the New Inn was open the road that ran past the inn was a very busy route for stagecoaches.
The Inn was said to be located just to the left of the New inn/Dipping bridge on the west bank of the Ogmore river.
When the Turn pike roads was introduced and the stagecoach traffic was diverted into Bridgend town bypassing the Dipping bridge the New Inn lost it's custom and eventually became a dilapidated ruin.
The first Turn-pike Acts were passed in the late 17th century and by the mid-1830s, about 22,000 miles of road in England and Wales were controlled by turn-pike toll houses.
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The Cardiff Times
15-9-1865
Beer-house Offence
Jeremiah Lawrance of the New Inn beer-house, Bridgend, pleaded guilty to having said beer-house open too soon on Sunday, he was fined 30s including costs.
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Possible landlords of the New Inn's of Bridgend.
Date Name Source
1851 John Jones Census
1865 Jeremiah Lawrance newspaper report
----- Cap Coch Merthyr Mawr
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(Photo 6). Ariel view of the Dipping/New Inn bridge. 2022.
THE NEW INN/DIPPING BRIDGE
The Dipping bridge as it is commonly known today was thought to have been built in the 15th century, and possibly predates the New Inn that was located on the west bank of the river Ogmore, This now country lane was a very busy thoroughfare for hundreds of years, and even more so when it became a stagecoach road, the building of this four arched stone bridge indicates how important this route was back then, to build a bridge of this size was a very expensive enterprise.
The bridge are two large holes on the roadside of the single road that crossed the bridge, a low wall runs along on both sides of the bridge, the holes in the low walls are large enough for a fully grown sheep to pass through, this is where the bridge gets its modern name, Shepard's would herd a flock of sheep onto the bridge and then encourage them individually through the holes in the walls and the sheep would then fall directly down into the river Ogmore where the sheep's fleece would be washed in the flowing river, once the fleece dried out, the fleece would be sheared off and sold off at the local markets of Bridgend and Cowbridge.
It is also possible that the holes had a duel function, the holes could have been originally built into the walls to allow the river Ogmore to flow over the bridge during the many times the river flooded.
Bridgend town as long history of the Ogmore river overflowing its banks and flooding the town under numerous feet/meters of water.
The New Inn bridge also as triangular shaped buttresses on its support arches to deflect the river though the arches, possibly the large holes in the walls helped to direct the flooded river to flow over the bridge so putting less stress on the bridge itself, In 1425 the old bridge at Bridgend was built connecting the two separate hamlets of Newcastle and Oldcastle, and in 1775 the old stone bridge as it is called nowa days lost two of its arches to a massive flood, the bridge was repaired creating a one large arch where the damaged part of the bridge was swept away, the bridge as now only two arches, the old stone bridge is not too dissimilar in design to the dipping bridge at Merthyr Mawr.
The dipping bridge may have been built at a later date then the old stone bridge at Bridgend, and the buttresses and holes could have been an attempt to help the bridge survive extreme weather conditions or the holes could have been exclusively designed for the controlled dipping of sheep.
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THE OLD CASTLE AREA OF BRIDGEND.
SECTION TWO
Part 2
OLDCASTLE
THE FIVE BELLS
5 EWENNY ROAD
BRIDGEND
(Photo 1) . A modern photo of the Three Bells Inn on Ewenny road.
The five Bells public house was originally two separate cottages, and turned into a public house in the later part of the 19th century.
One of the cottages was used as a smith-shop and the occupier was a Gronow Williams.
The smithy was there in 1842 according to the tithe map of Glamorgan, Now in modern times it as changed unrecognizable to what it looked like 180 years ago, it is now a large detached building with two entrances, one facing Ewenny road and the other at the side of the building facing a cul-de-sac.
In 1903 the pub is listed as being in Nolton street and not Ewenny road, this is because later in the early 20th century the local council changed the road system at the top of Nolton street, and to make matters more confusing renumbered all the buildings along the complete length of Nolton street, e.g. the Old Castle inn in 2023 is listed as number 90, in 1900 The inn's number was 115. ?
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Landlords
Date Landlord source
1900 Alfred Warner
1912 E. Thomas
1913-1917 Robert Griffith
In 1917 Robert Griffiths became the landlord of the Red Lion in Elder Lane.
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Notable Events
Newspaper report
7/3/1884
A man by the name of James Birch john, a painter of 29 years old died at the 5 Bells public-house on the 7/3/1884.
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Glamorgan Gazette
24/8/1890
An advert in the newspaper declaring that the beer house, the 5 Bells was up for sale.
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The Cardiff Times
27th February 1869
DRUNK.
J. Davies was charged with being drunk at OldCastle.
Defendant said he was in-sensible from an assault committed by the landlord of the Five Bells, but he had not proceeded against him. Fined 5s. And costs.
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In 1931 the Five Bells was advertised for sale.
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Bridgend local website
13-10-2020
Two pubs in Bridgend county borough ordered to close at the weekend for failing to minimise the risk of exposure to coronavirus on the premises have now had their closure notices lifted.
The Five Bells Pub in Ewenny Road, Bridgend, and the Mackworth Arms in High Street, Laleston, were both issued with Premises Closure Notices on Saturday, which can run for up to 14 days.
Enforcement officers said those responsible for the pubs failed in their duty to minimise the risk of exposure to coronavirus and the spread of Covid-19, by allowing an individual, known to have tested positive for the virus, on to the premises at a time when they were required to self-isolate.
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Name Origin
The name Five Bells goes back to the Eleventh century, when Inn's and Taverns stood within the precincts of parish church's, however many bells a church held determined the number riven to the title of the Inn.
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(Photo 2) . The Coach and Horses in modern times with the abbreviated pub name and newly designed pub sign.
The Coach and Horses.
37Cowbridge road
Bridgend
The coach and Horses public house is a two-story mid-to-late nineteenth century building linked to a terraced row of houses.
The pub is located on one of the old roads that lead into Bridgend and lays just on the outskirts of the town centre.
The Pub sign did have an image of an old-fashioned four wheeled coach pulled by a team of horses.
Now it as a unique double-sided sign featuring the rear and the front of a “Brown Bomber” bus/coach which sometime ago would travel passed the pub, the bus route the Brown Bomber was between Neath, Bridgend and Cardiff.
The pubs address as changed a number of times when it has been listed in the various trade directories, it has been listed as number 22,37 and 39, at the moment I do not know if these numbers are mistakes in the trade directories or the numbers changed for an increase in urban development with urban expansion as the town became larger and more houses/shops were built. (still looking into it, the local council are no help at all).
The pub is still open in 2023 and is now know as simply The Coach.
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LANDLORDS
Date Name Source
1844 David Morgan Pigots Directory.
1851 John Gwyn Census 1851
1855 David Morgan ----------------
1861-1867 Daniel Lewis Census 1861.
1867 Mary Lewis -----------------
1868 Samuel Lewis Slaters Directory
1870-1871 Mary Lewis, 40 yers old Census 1871
1875 Mary John Worrels Directory
1876 Alfred Gabb Merchers Directory.
1880–1891 David Straddling Slaters Directory.
1895 Robert Delshay Kellys Directory
1899-1901 William Evans --------------------
1901 William Jenkins Kellys Directory.
1901 Alice Stradling --------------------
1903 -1910 William Evans Trade Directory Wales.
1910 -1911 Richard.F.E. Transfer of licence.
1911 Frederick John Dickson ------------------
1916-1920 Thomas Nash -----------------
1923 Archibald Lewis Kellys Directory.
1939 Charles Harry, 88yrs old 1939 register.
1960 Ray Daniels newspaper article.
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The pub seems to have a very chequered history with landlords, the amount of landlords listed above is not typical for the time period involved.
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The landlord Daniel Lewis was a local Bridgend boy, he was 27 years old when he became a publican of the Coach and Horses in 1861.
On The 28th of December 1867 the licence was transferred from the late landlord Mr Daniel Lewis to his widow Mrs Mary Lewis.
In 1901 Alice Stradling was listed as a 66-year-old widow and running the Coach and Horses as a Hotel Keeper.
Richard.F.E.James was listed as a Innkeeper in the 1911 Census, a 39-year-old and born in Bridgend.
John Gwyn was the Landlord in 1851, he was 41 years old and Born in Bonvilston.
The landlord in 1891 was Mr David Stradling ( listed as Shadling in the 1891 Census), he was 57 years old and his other occupation was a repairer Underground, in 1892 he leaves the Coach and Horses and takes over the Victoria Inn located in Adare street from the present Landlord John Walters.
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Notable Events
The Cardiff Times
30/3/1867
An inquest was held at the Coach and Horses inn, Oldcastle, the inquest was on a Fish Seller by the name of Kitty Austin, she was found dead on Cowbridge road, near the pub.
Verdict :- “found dead”.
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The Cardiff Times
15/6/1867
The landlady Mrs Mary Lewis was assaulted by a customer called Keziah Hopkins, Mrs Lewis stepped in-between her husband during a domestic argument in the pub.
“The charge was dismissed”.
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The Cardiff Times
26/3/1870
The Landlady Mrs Mary Lewis was charged for selling beer on Sunday morning before the hours of opening.
Mary Lewis was fined 50 shillings and 11 shillings 2d (pennies) costs.
According to the National Archives, Currency converter for 1870 the above fine and cost would come to in 2017, £125.22p fine and £34.96 costs.
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Bridgend Court Sessions.
15/20/2870
The case was brought forward by the landlady of the Coach and Horses for the theft of a pickaxe, to the value of 1 shilling from the landlady,
The case was dismissed.
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The South Wales Star
16/12/1891
A runaway horse and trap raced past the Coach and Horses inn and the down Nolton street, galloping at pace, breaking a shaft of the trap before the horse was put under control.
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For many years an annual ancient horse fair was held at St Marys Hill, which was very popular with the local people of Bridgend town and the surrounding areas, at this fair local pubs would set up beer stands to server the many costumers that visited the fair.
The Cambrian
8/9/1905
Bridgend court sesssions.
Swansea pugilist sent to session.
Kid Davies a coloured man, a well known boxer was charged with wounding with intent to do greveasly bodily harm with William Evans of the Coach and Horses in Bridgend.
The assault happened at the St Marys Horse fair.
Kid Davies was put on bail with a £40 bond.
Lloyd ‘Kid’ Davies (born 1885) - African-American featherweight boxer who settled in Swansea and became a national star.
During the First World War he worked at Pembrey Munitions works in Carmarthenshire.
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Glamorgan Gazette.
30/10/1914
The landlord of the Coach and Horses, Frederick John Dickson was in court for allowing drunkenness on licenced premises.
The case was dismissed.
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Glamorgan Gazette.
3/11/1961
The landlord of the Coach and horses a Mr Thomas Nash was charged with selling whiskey in a bottle without a label drinking off the premises to a tinker called George Skarrett.
(the law at the time dictated that selling whiskey in a vessel of capacity less than one reputed Quart was illegal).
The landlord Thomas Nash was fined £2 for the offence and George Skerrett was fined £2 for talking the bottle away from a public house.
£2 in1916 was the equivalent to £117.98 in 2017, or Wages: 6 days for a skilled tradesman in 1916.
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Advert
An advert was placed in a local paper by the landlord Thomas Nash in 1918 stating that the Coach and Horses inn as Customer Accommodation and good Stabling for horses.
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In 1931 five public-houses in Bridgend town were advertised for sale, the Coach and Horses was one of these public-houses, the other four were the Castle Hotel on the corner of Caroline street and Derwen road, the Five Bells on Ewenny road, the Dunraven Hotel on Wyndham street and the very old inn, the Ship Inn at Dunraven place.
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Name Origin
The pub name, the Coach and Horses first became popular in the 18th century when the population of towns and villages became more mobile with the introduction of stage coaches and later with the railway systems spreading across the country.
Many Inns and Taverns became coaching Inns and postal drops for the Royal Mail, later in the coming centuries the name was still popular and many public-houses took the name on because it carried an air of tradition and familiarity.
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(Photo 3) . The Brown Bomber coach parked outside the pub.
(Photo 4) . The front of the new pub sign.
(Photo 5) . The rear of the new pub sign.
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Coming in the next post.
The Old Castle Inn Nolton street.
Work in Progress.
Coming in next post.
The Old Castle Inn, Nolton Street
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