Old village pub with unusual layout of original 14th century secluded bar area around fireplace, raised lounge with large stone fireplace and old seating, and lower public bar with TV, pool table, dart board, and jukebox. Totally separate dining room. Accommodation comprises one upstairs family room in the pub and a recent conversion of courtyard stables to three en-suite letting rooms. Large rear garden with picnic tables beyond the courtyard. Owned by the J W Lees company since September 1939.
Two star - A pub interior of very special national historic interest
Listed status: Not listed
A visit here is a must to see the 'parlour bar' / tiny snug which typifies how many traditional Welsh 'beer houses' looked before the late 1880s and the introduction of bar counters. The left hand snug (called the 'Bull Pen' in the 1950s) features a curved settle around a range fireplace (the surround was brick until 1950s when it was plastered over - see the dated photograph by the side) with iron stays from the top of the settle to the beams above. The copper hood above the fireplace has a 1960s appearance. Nowadays you walk around the outside of the settle to go to a hatch for service - in the old days the publican would have fetched your beer from the cellar. Some very old shelves form the bar-back. Up to 40 years ago the room at the rear comprised just the left-hand half with its stone fireplace but in the 1960s it was doubled in size when the house next door was purchased by Lees Brewery (primarily to add indoor toilets) and the front pool room was created; this still has a period bar counter.
A visit to the Red Lion is a must to see a 'parlour bar' / tiny snug which is an example of how many traditional Welsh 'beer house' looked prior to the late 1880s and the introduction of bar counters. The left hand snug (called the 'Bull Pen' in the 1950s) features a curved settle around a range fireplace (the surround was brick until 1950s when it was plastered over - see the dated photograph by the side) with iron stays from the top of the settle to the beams above.
There are only a handful of similar rooms or snugs formed of two or more high backed settles left in the whole of the UK. They can be found at the following Heritage Pubs – the Holly Bush, Mackeney, Derbyshire; Malt Shovel, Spondon, Derbyshire; Green Dragon, Flaunden, Hertfordshire; Red Lion, Kenninghall, Norfolk; North Star, Steventon, Oxfordshire; Kings Head, Laxfield, Suffolk; Bell & Cross, Holy Cross, Clent, Worcestershire; Old White Beare, Norwood Green, Yorkshire, West; Crown, Snape, Suffolk;; Wheatsheaf, Raby, Merseyside;; Galway Arms, East Retford, Nottinghamshire;; and Anchor, High Offley, Staffordshire .
The copper hood above the fireplace has a 1960s appearance. Nowadays you walk around the outside of the settle to go to a hatch for service - in the old days you would have been served direct to your seat with the publican fetching the beer from the cellar. There are some very old shelves for a bar back. Up to 40 years ago the room at the rear was just the left-hand half with its stone fireplace. In the 1960s it was doubled in size when the house next door was purchased by Lees Brewery (primarily to add indoor toilets) and the front pool room was created which still retains a period bar counter.
Red Lion, Llansannan
A Celebration Of Welsh Pub Heritage Real Heritage Pubs of Wales is a guide to a remarkable and varied collection of pubs with the best and most interesting interiors in the whole of Wales. It is CAMRA’s pioneering initiative to...