This blog post is to coincide with our current inhouse exhibition based on the Castle Hotel, Ruthin following it’s recent sympathetic refurbishment by the pub chain ‘Wetherspoons’. The Castle Hotel might once again lay claim to being described as the ’the principal hostelry, occupying the most important position on St. Peter’s Square’.
It was first known as the White Lion, and is said to date from the early to mid eighteenth century. It may have been built on the site of an earlier building and indeed to the rear there are timber framed outbuildings of the 16/17th century. With the development of the turnpike trusts and the improvement of the road system, the White Lion became a coaching inn and post house.
After the arrival of the railway service to Ruthin, horse drawn carriages were sent to meet every train to convey prospective patrons to the hotel. Towards the late 19th century it became more widely known as The Castle Hotel.
At the turn of the last century it was a large hotel, with reception rooms, bars, 15 bedrooms, servants bedrooms, stabling for at least 20 horses and garaging. In the 1930s it was refurbished by the ‘Trust house group’, and they sold it as an exclusive hotel in 1971; it has continued to trade as a hotel ever since.
Information on our holdings can be found at:
http://www.denbighshire.gov.uk/en-gb/dnap-6zqktq?opendocument&lang=en-gb
