Wynnstay Arms, Ruabon
This former coaching inn dates mainly from the late 18th century, with additions made in 1841. It probably incorporates parts of an earlier structure. Behind the inn, the 18th-century stable block still stands.
This side of Ruabon belonged to the large Wynnstay Estate. You can see a gateway into the estate at the far end of the informal square along Park Street.
The inn faces onto Park Street and High Street. At the street corner, a large and decorative bracket of wrought iron juts out from the brickwork. The pub sign hangs from the bracket, which is thought to date from the 18th century or early 19th.
The inn has been a hub for community activities over the centuries. In Victorian times the local branch of the Association for Prosecution of Felons met here. The association encouraged witnesses to come forward after crimes, sometimes by offering rewards for information.
Chess matches were held at the Wynnstay Arms, and in 1897 professional chess player Joseph Blackburne gave an exhibition of his skill here. His party pieces included playing against more than one challenger simultaneously, and playing blindfold!
In 1879 the committee of the Football Association of Wales, which had been formed three years earlier in Wrexham, met here and spent two and a half hours deliberating on a goal scored by Wrexham but disputed by the opposing team, Northwich. The objection was eventually over-ruled and several changes were made to the rules.
In the last decades of the 19th century the inn was run by the Murless family. By the early 20th century the lease was held by brothers Philip and Cresswell Murless. Both went to South Africa with the Imperial Yeomanry at the time of the Boer War. Cresswell fell ill with an enteric illness (affecting the digestive system) and was invalided home in 1900. He was running the Wynnstay Arms in 1902 when he received news that Philip had died of enteric illness in Klerksdorp.
Postcode: LL14 6BL View Location Map