Inside 213-year-old pub up for sale for just £75,000 - with no till or bar

22 November 2023 , 10:48

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The old Red Lion pub in the centre of Llandovery, Carmartenshire (Image: Right Move)

A historic pub in the heart of a Welsh town is up for grabs for as little as £75,000.

The Red Lion, once a popular watering hole in Llandovery, Carmarthenshire, which dates back over 200 years, has no counter, no till and definitely no TV.

The three-storey building, thought to have been a town house in the 1700s, became a pub in 1810. It was owned by the Rees family for more than 130 years, with John Rees, born in the Red Lion, being the last landlord before he moved to a care home and passed away earlier this year.

The traditional Welsh pub stood out for its old-fashioned charm. It had no carpets, counter, till, music or TV and was listed as a Grade II building in 1981. According to British Listed Buildings, it was mostly used as a private house with the public house confined to one room. Beer was served through a hatch from barrels in the tap room, a common arrangement in Wales.

The pub is up for sale, with the hope that someone can restore it to its former glory (Right Move)

The Red Lion was one of only six licensed premises in Wales to be awarded a Heritage Star in the Campaign for Real Ale's (CAMRA) National Inventory of Pubs. In one of its guides, CAMRA wrote: "You are assured of a warm welcome at this superb old pub. Here is an ancient, eccentric and friendly watering hole, the like of which is fast disappearing, a very rare survival of the kind of simple arrangement for serving beer that was once common in Wales."

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The pub also featured in a guide entitled Real Heritage Pubs of Wales a few years back, prior to its closure, when it was run by John Rees. The guide described the glory of the Red Lion in its heyday, writing: "This is a unique, no-frills market town warp pub one of only two in Wales without a bar counter. The building itself is 18th and 19th century and part may be older still. It has a two-storey, symmetrical front to the market square and has the attractive feature of a pentice roof supported on iron columns running the whole length of the building and sheltering the ground floor."

It was thought to have originally been a three-storey townhouse (No credit)

It added: "The front door leads to a red quarry tiled passage and just past the inner doors the bar is a small room on the right with an alcove at the front called the 'the lounge', which turns out to be a tiny room - three settles to sit on, dado panelling, hand written bar prices stuck on the wall, and a picture of Manet's 'Bar at the Folies Bergeres' above the fireplace. There is a small hatch and a door leading to the cellar server at the rear of the bar room and you can see a stillage with a few casks of beer sitting on it. Find a seat around the large square table and landlord John Rees will take your order as had his family before him for over 100 years."

The group 'Friends of the Red Lion' said that the building has "suffered somewhat from being closed and uninhabited for the past three years". They added, "that many old and loyal customers, from Llandovery and further afield, have expressed a fervent wish to see someone with sympathy and enthusiasm restore this venerable institution to its historic purpose in the heart of Llandovery - the price guide of £75,000 will hopefully convince a buyer to take on the task of renovation and regeneration of a valuable part of the town's history."

The property is listed for sale on Rightmove and an online auction will be held by Seel and Company of Cardiff on December 12. The Love Llandovery Facebook page described the Red Lion as a place where "It always attracted great characters where the beer was served from jugs and conversation, debates and arguments were guaranteed. There were no luxuries like carpets, comfortable chairs, food or background music. There were flag floors, wooden benches and every customer was treated exactly the same by the Rees family. It was from an age of long, long ago and all the better for it."

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Ryan Fahey