The Conway Castle Inn

Standing on the corner of Castle Square, the Conway Castle Inn has welcomed travellers for well over two centuries. The site is shown on the Owen Holland map of 1776, confirming that an inn stood here by the late eighteenth century, although it more than likely was established even earlier.

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Like many coaching inns, it was much more than simply somewhere to eat and drink. The property included a stable block, allowing travellers to rest while their horses were fed, watered and prepared for the next stage of the journey. Before the arrival of the railway, inns such as this were an essential part of travelling across North Wales.

 

The first known licence holder was Thomas Jones, who, in 1798, was granted permission to keep "a common inn and alehouse" for one year. Such licences were renewed annually and required innkeepers to maintain good order, reflecting the important role inns played within the community.

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The Conway Castle Inn continued to serve travellers throughout the nineteenth century and is still recorded on this site in 1865. Its location became even more significant following the opening of Thomas Telford's suspension bridge in 1826, when increasing numbers of people passed through Conwy on the main route between London and Holyhead.

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