The Lion Hotel, Newtown

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button_lang_welsh button_lang_french The Lion Hotel, Newtown

This listed building dates from the mid-18th century. It was still a posting inn, with its own stables, in 1910, when it was advertised as a “family and commercial” hotel.

The shallow-relief depiction of a lion, above the carriageway to the rear yard, dates from the 19th century. Also on the front wall you can see a plaque depicting a winged wheel. It was placed there by the Cyclists Touring Club in the 1930s.

In 1905 a thief stole almost £4 and a bar of pink soap (then a luxury item) from the hotel. Soon afterwards Robert Smith, from Birmingham, aroused suspicions by flaunting his cash and using scented pink soap in Welshpool. Two months later he departed from lodgings in Oswestry, leaving behind a small scrap of pink soap – which led to him being convicted at the assizes in Ruthin. He had also stolen money from a Llanidloes home. He was sentenced to five years in jail.

From 1893 to 1896, the Lion Hotel was run by Charles Clement Jones and his wife Sarah. Their son Eric Charles Jones was born in 1895. Charles’ father John was a Newtown solicitor. His brother, EH Jones, emigrated to Cape Town, South Africa, in 1892 and joined the civil service. In partnership with William Stokes of the New Inn, Charles ran a company called Stokes & Jones, which produced mineral water and dealt in bottle beers and cordials.

As a young man, Eric also emigrated to Cape Town. He was a rugby player and motorcycle enthusiast. He enlisted in the army in 1915 and was one of the soldiers chosen to form a bodyguard for the King’s visit to Aldershot in 1916. Eric died, aged 21, in October 1916 on the Western Front in the Pas de Calais region of France. He is buried at Warlencourt British Cemetery and commemorated on Newtown war memorial.

Postcode: SY16 2LR    View Location Map

Website of the Lion Hotel (Facebook)

To continue the Newtown in WW1 tour, walk northwards along Shortbridge St. Cross the road and turn right into Severn St. The next QR codes are on the right, shortly before the bend
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