Kings Head Hotel, Monmouth
| Kings Head Hotel | |
|---|---|
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| General information | |
| Type | Posting inn |
| Address | Agincourt Square |
| Town or city | Monmouth |
| Country | Wales |
| Coordinates | 51°48′42″N 2°42′57″W / 51.81179°N 2.71575°WCoordinates: 51°48′42″N 2°42′57″W / 51.81179°N 2.71575°W |
| Current tenants | J D Wetherspoon pub |
| Construction started | mid-17th century |
| Designations | Grade II listed |
| Website | |
| www |
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The King's Head Hotel is a hotel standing opposite the Shire Hall in Glyndŵr Street, Agincourt Square, Monmouth, Wales. It dates from the mid-17th century, and as one of the major inns in Monmouth was reputedly visited by Charles I of England in 1645. It has a fine black-and-white painted stone façade and became an important posting inn in the late 17th century, with a yard through an archway where visitors' horses could be stabled and where regular coach services called. In the 18th and 19th centuries, stagecoaches for London left from the inn. The range of buildings along Agincourt Street now includes the former Monmouth Bank and the County Club, while the inn itself is now part of the J D Wetherspoon pub chain. It is one of 24 buildings on the town's Heritage Trail and is a Grade II listed building.
The bottom side of Agincourt Square is dominated by the fine 17th century coaching inn, and its attendant buildings provide an attractive range along Agincourt Street, though decorative facades of the former Monmouth Bank (c 1740) on the left, and the County Club (c 1877) with its fine oriel window on the right are much later buildings. The County Club (by T H Wyatt) has an attractive oriel window. The King's Head runs through to St John's Street, where it had its stabling, and since this spans the outer bailey ditch of the castle it drops a storey from front to back. It became an important posting inn under landlord Richard Ballard, who was Mayor of Monmouth in 1675 and also postmaster. An ardent Royalist, he claimed the visit by Charles I, and issued brass tokens with the inscription "God Preserve our Gracious King" and the head of Charles II. Charles I was reputed to have visited it in 1645, during a stay at Raglan Castle, and the Royalist landlord subsequently erected a plaster bas-relief of Charles in 1673, still to be seen above the fireplace in the left-hand Bar.
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Wikipedia