The Golden Lion, Rossett
This building was once a coaching inn. The outbuilding facing the car park provided stabling for the horses which drew the coaches. Racks for horses’ hay are still in situ.
The oldest part of the building possibly dates from the late 18th century or earlier. The semi-circular projection which used to form a kind of porch around the front entrance is in a style known as cottage orné, intended to give buildings a rustic look. This doorway is now kept closed.
By the 1870s, The Golden Lion Hotel was the venue for a thriving agricultural market. Fat stock (animals ready for slaughter) was the staple, but other animals and crops were also sold. In August 1875, for example, four fields of wheat also came under the hammer of auctioneers Baugh, Jones and Company. Other auctioneers occasionally held property sales here.
Inquests were held at the hotel. In 1901, the coroner here returned a verdict of accidental death on George Leech, 59, of Rossett Green, who was picking pears at Dodleston when the bough on which he was standing snapped and he fell to his death.
In the early 20th century the hotel was kept by EO Williams, who had returned from serving with the Imperial Yeomanry in the South African War. He died in 1908.
The Golden Lion is said to be haunted by the ghost of Jeffrey, a ploughman hanged for attempted murder in the 17th century. His decomposing body was strapped to a gibbet and displayed at Rossett as a deterrent. This deterred many people from coming to Rossett to trade, until exasperated local residents prised off the iron bands to release Jeffrey’s remains for burial. One of those bands is said to be in an outbuilding at The Golden Lion, attached to a stout piece of wood reputedly once part of the gibbet.
Postcode: LL12 0HN View Location Map