The Boat Inn, Chepstow

button-theme-canal button-theme-crime

link_to_french_translationThe Boat Inn, The Back, Chepstow

An inscribed date in this building suggests that it was erected in 1789. The original character has survived in many of the interior features, such as the low ceiling and stone flags on the floor. At one time the inn was known as the Chepstow Boat. From around the Second World War to the 1980s the building was a private home. Inquests were held in the building in the 19th century, often into the deaths of people recovered from the river. See the Footnotes below for the names of previous Boat Inn licensees.

The inn was built alongside a dry dock, where ships’ hulls were repaired until the mid-19th century. This waterfront area is known as The Back, an old word for quay or wharf. Previously it was known as “Hell’s acre” because of the rowdiness and fights were common when sailors hit the bottle in the dozen or so pubs in the area.

In 1880, four men who held “respectable positions” in local society, were tried for hauling a fishmonger called Thomas Scott from the Boat Inn and throwing him into the river on the evening of the Chepstow boat races. The defendants said Scott had reneged on a bet. They were fined 30s each, plus costs, and told they were lucky not to be on trial for manslaughter.

The area was once the hub of Chepstow’s maritime activity. There were two slipways, and officers kept watch from a Custom House to ensure the correct duties were paid on incoming goods. Timber was one of the main commodities which passed through. Tourists boarded pleasure boats here for trips on the river Wye, and in 1840 Chartists who took part in the Newport uprising of 1839 departed from here after being sentenced to transportation to Australia. Light industries thrived in the vicinity, including a blacksmith’s forge, a sawmill and a bobbin factory.

One area of the Boat Inn, in the section to the right of the entrance, is said to be haunted. A notice painted on the wall advises customers: “While sitting here you [may] experience a sudden shiver or catch a fleeting glimpse of a figure from times past …”

Postcode: NP16 5HH

View Location Map

Other HAUNTED HiPoints in this region:
Ye Olde Murenger House, Newport - apparition appears in one of the upper windows
King’s Arms, Abergavenny – woman in black on staircase

Wales Coastal Path Label Navigation anticlockwise buttonNavigation clockwise button


FOOTNOTES: Licensees of the Boat Inn
1789 Edmund Paine
1791 Thomas Pye
1815 William Fisher
1842 Margaret Fisher
1847 Phillip Fisher
1857 Win Rock
1859 Mrs Rock
1860 George Parsons
1861 George Dennill
1863 Henry Lewis
1871 Charles Cumper
1891 Mrs SJ Cumper
1895 Richard Cumper
1900 Win Joy
1906 Joe Ellis
1923 WR Flowers
1936 TA Curtis