The Skirrid Mountain Inn
A Welsh mountain inn claiming to be the oldest pub in the country — and, by legend, a courtroom whose stair beam hanged as many as 180 condemned men.
Case File No. 115
FILE 01 The Legend
The Skirrid wraps its story in geology and religion alike: the mountain above is said to have split at the Crucifixion, and the inn below served as a courthouse where the upper floor delivered death sentences carried out from the oak beam over the stairs — by tradition as many as 180 hangings between the 12th and 17th centuries. Guests now sleep in rooms named for the judge and the condemned; the beam itself is displayed with a noose.
FILE 02 The Sightings Log
Reported phenomena include the smell of pipe smoke, coins spun on tables, the sensation of a rope tightening about the neck, and a woman in black seen upstairs. The inn embraces its reputation fully, selling ghost-hunt overnight stays with the beam as the centrepiece.
FILE 03 The Skeptic’s File
No court records substantiate the mass hangings — the figure exists only in the wording of legend ('as many as 180'), and court historians find no evidence the inn served regularly as an execution site. The oldest-pub-in-Wales claim is contested by several rivals. What is certain is a very old, very canny public house that has converted a hanging legend into a booking calendar.