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 Pubs, Hotels & Breweries | Public Buildings | Places of Worship Newtown Town Trails - Pubs, Hotels & Breweries Pubs, hotels and breweries were once a more dominant feature of the town than they are now. At least 50 pubs and hotels and 6 breweries are recorded as having existed in the 18th and 19th centuries. This is a guide to a few of them involving a short walk around the town centre. It begins at the west end of High Street at The Buck, near the Tourist Information Centre. The Severn Valley produced good malting barley and supplied upland districts of Mid Wales. The production of malt was one of the many industries drawn to the side of the Montgomeryshire Canal, the maltings and brewhouses being able to take advantage of coal brought on the canal. Before this, at the beginning of the 19th century there were no commercial breweries and pubs and many farmhouses brewed in their back kitchens. Towards the end of the century breweries began to replace such domestic production and sold their products through their own outlets and other pubs. It was a natural step to also supply wines and spirits, and to bottle beer brewed elsewhere.
1. The Buck was a pub by the early 19th century, the building being a 17th century lobby entry, timber-framed house. The first floor was originally jettied. The third unit to the left of the brick chimney is missing. In the 19th century the pub was associated with horse sales, and the Committee of Management of the Annual Pigeon Shooting, made up of other notable publicans and brewers, met here.
3. Almost opposite W.H. Smith's is The Angel, at one time the Angel Hotel, an inn since about 1800. By 1881 the rear had become Morgan’s Brewery which ran through to Market Street where the owner, Cornelius Morgan, had another outlet, The Angel Vaults. Broad Street 4. The facade of the Bear’s Head (later The Bear) Hotel was reproduced over the entrance to the Bear Lane shopping precinct. In existence since 1768, The Bear’s back yard hosted strolling theatrical players in the early 19th century. Robert Owen, the social reformer, died there in 1858. Although described as the most comfortable family, commercial and posting house in North Wales boasting a billiard room, it was always considered the second best hotel in Newtown after the Red Lion. 5. 11 Broad Street now the The Monty Club was, until 1918, the Unicorn Hotel. The building bears the date 1696 above its door. 6. The Victoria Vaults was owned by James Nunn during the later 19th century whose short-lived brewery originally stood behind. This is another early 19th century Georgian 3-storey brick building. 7. On the east side of Broad Street beside the River Severn, stands the Elephant and Castle Hotel, established, by the early 19th century, as a hotel and posting house. The shutters and balcony are modern but the pillared porch is an early and, for Newtown, unusual feature. 8. The Black Boy is another 17th century lobby entry house which has undergone many alterations, including brick fronting in the late 18th century. It boasted 'well aired beds' as well as an 'extensive yard and stabling' through the later carriageway on the right. 9. The Castle Vaults (at one time The Spirit Vaults) was the main outlet for Thomas Swift’s brewery which once stood behind in Crown Street. It was probably purpose built in the early 19th century. Severn Street There is now only The Sportsman (originally the New Inn) in Severn Street but during the 19th century there were at various times the Britannia, Crown (originally at No. 8 before moving to 1 Severn Square, now Cranford House) and the Harp. All were in existence by the 1820s. The buildings are typical early 19th century Georgian 3-storey buildings. In the late 19th century the New Inn boasted a billiard table, 'results of football matches every Saturday evening, well-aired beds, choice cigars, wines and spirits’, which was not unusual! Shortbridge Street 10. The Lion has been an inn since about 1720. First known as the Red Lion Hotel it was described in 1768 as being the best accustomed and largest hotel with the most stables in the town. Actors accompanied by the Cavalry Band played there in 1828. When sold in 1869 its yard had 'stabling for nine horses, loft cowhouse, private box, brewhouse'. The building is of the mid-18th century of two storeys, its carriageway guarded by a 19th century plaster lion. Originally The Lion extended to the corner of High Street. Market Street 11. No.30 was the Angel Vaults behind which was Morgan's Brewery. It was purpose built in about 1870 in brick and freestone with elaborate arched windows and a carriageway into the brewery yard.
The Pheasant Inn was in existence by 1881 but the present building is a more recent rebuild of 1939. Park Street There were four inns in Park Street, the building beside the United Reformed Church being the Albion Tavern, built in 1831. Beyond was the Picton Arms (now demolished), the Cross Guns (now Filoxenia Greek Restaurant) and the Prince of Wales, now Maldwyn Guest House. It is now but a short walk along Back Lane to the starting in High Street.  Pubs, Hotels & Breweries | Public Buildings | Places of Worship  |
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High Street
2. The Crown Vaults was at 24 High Street but since 1927 has been W.H. Smith’s. It was the main outlet for Thomas Issard’s Crown Brewery, established in 1831, which you will see later 13. Like so many of the buildings in Newtown, it is an early 19th century, three storey, three window, brick building with a tunnel passage on the right.
12. On the other side of the street above and behind the shops are the remnants of the Crown Brewery. For many years it was owned by Thomas Issard. It was taken over by Lassal & Sharman of Caergwrle in 1900, and by 1919 had closed down. Its main outlet was the Crown Vaults in High Street 2. The present entrance to the Ladywell Shopping Centre was the carriageway to the yard.