Description: The skirrid Inn is the oldest Public house within the borders of the Principality of Wales and among the foremost claimants to the title of the oldest Public House in Great Britain.
Many of the contenders listed in the Guinness Book of Records are not original structures, being newer buildings on old foundations or have been extended or restored over the centuries. The Skirrid Inn however has stood for nine centuries.
The main rivals for the title of the Oldest Inn in Great Britain are Nottingham's "Trip to Jerusalem" ( 1070), the "Fighting Cocks" at St. Albans (11th century structure on an 8th century site), the "Godbegot" at Winchester (1002). The "Bingley Arms", Bardsay near Leeds is recorded as the Priests Inn (AD 905), while "Ye Old Ferry Boat Inn" at Holywell Cambridgeshire claims an origin as early as AD 560.
Fifty years after the Norman Conquest of Britain, two men stood trial before a court assembled in the main room of a new alehouse on a dusty road below the Skirrid Mountain. The alehouse was called "Millbrook" and the men were brothers, James and John Crowther.
James was sentenced to nine months for robberies with violence and John ended his days swinging from an inn beam - his crime? - Sheep stealing. Thus in 1110 is first recorded the existence of the inn known for centuries as "The Skirrid".
The Devil rode abroad in these early days of ignorance and as the night wins howled in the black night, inside the walls of the Inn, the Innkeeper solemnly poured out a pot of "Devils Brew" for His Satanic majesty - and placed it upon the shelf above the fireplace hence "to sip with the Devil" The Innkeeper may have also left a jug of "pwcca" on the Skirrid doorstep when the last of his customers disappeared into the night, to appease the evil or mischievous spirits of the darkness.
Shakespeare is thought to have got his idea for Puck of Mid Summer Nights Dream from "y pwcca". The mists of time shroud the early centuries of the Inns existence, but occasionally out of the pages of history steps a legend like Owain Glyndwr (1359 - 1416), who is said to have rallied his troops in the cobbled forecourt of the Skirrid before climbing onto the Mounting Stone and riding at their head in the march on Pontrilas.
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