The Harp Inn / Y Delyn - Abergele, Wales
Posted by: Barthax
N 53° 17.070 W 003° 35.029
30U E 461077 N 5904078
The Harp Inn in Abergele, Wales.
Waymark Code: WMW3CK
Location: North Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/05/2017
Views: 0
"It’s believed that the Harp Inn was built on the site of a medieval prison. Convicts would be taken from the lock-up to the nearby stocks for public humiliation. A prison is mentioned in a description of Abergele in 1344. At one time the prison was one of the area’s few stone buildings, with timber houses for neighbours.
The inn dates from the boom in trade which came Abergele’s way after 1785, when the Chester to Holyhead mail and other coaches were diverted this way instead of running further inland. Innkeepers were buoyed again by an influx of tourists to North Wales after the outbreak of war against France in 1793, when wealthy British people were unable to make the usual Grand Tour of Europe. By 1862 Abergele had 16 inns, all but three of them along the main road (Market Street and Bridge Street).
Livestock auctions were held at the Harp Inn from c.1910, when growing motor traffic put an end to the earlier custom of holding markets in the main road. Auctioneer Frank Lloyd held his “Smithfield” at the Harp, and his rival Richard Pearce used the Bee Hotel, almost opposite. Buyers from as far away as Lancaster and Stafford came to the Harp Smithfield. On one day in April 1914, for example, sheep were bought here for a total of more than £1,000 (c.£100,000 in today’s money)."
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