The Greyhound and Punchbowl Inn, formerly Stoke Heath Manor House and then Ye Olde Greyhound, is a

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

Stow Heath Stow Heath is an area and ancient manor in the city of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, located in the east half of the city. Place name and origins The first known recording of the place name Stowheath was in c.1272 as ''Stowheth'', from Old Engl ...

Bilston Bilston is a market town, ward, and civil parish located in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is close to the borders of Sandwell and Walsall. The nearest towns are Darlaston, Wednesbury, and Willenhall. Historically in Staffordshi ...

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It was formerly a manor house before it was

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

around 1774-1820.

History

It is thought that it was built in 1450 as a

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

(with present timber framing dated to ''c.''1450 to prove this), with a John De Mollesley being the first incumbent. Much of the extant building dates the manor house to the mid 16th century, although all that remains of the original 15th century building is the west wing and a tree in the middle of the building that was probably felled on site or nearby, also during the 15th century.Messrs. W. Butler & Co. Limited (1936) - ''The Greyhound and Punch-bowl, Bilston''. p.4 The rear room has a well-preserved 16th century carved overmantel, although it is probably not ''

in situ ''In situ'' (; often not italicized in English) is a Latin phrase that translates literally to "on site" or "in position." It can mean "locally", "on site", "on the premises", or "in place" to describe where an event takes place and is used in ...

'' anymore and has been moved from its original location. Lawley (1893) and Mills & Williams (1988) said the manor house "would have been divided into three blocks: the west wing containing the principal living room, the east wing the kitchen area and a hall which connected the two". When the Commissioners of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

came to Bilston to enquire into the state of St. Leonard's Church during the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536-1541), they stayed at the manor house. The house was sold during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

to John Green, whose son died during the

Battle of Worcester The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell def ...

. It is traditionally believed that during the 17th century, either

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

or Charles II visited the manor house. The manor house was owned by the Green family until 1715, when it was abandoned until around 1774-1820. Coins of

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

and

Louis XVI of France Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was e ...

were found during the 1936 work to restore the pub which may date the conversion of the building to an inn at no later than 1793, when Louis XVI died, although it was not licensed as Ye Olde Greyhound until . It eventually fell into disrepair again, until it was restored in 1936 by Messrs. W. Butler & Co. Limited and was renamed to The Greyhound and Punchbowl. Before it was restored in 1936, the building was under licence to Joseph Wheeler and showed serious signs of disrepair. On 20 June 1952

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

designated The Greyhound and Punchbowl as a Grade II* listed building.Pevsner, N, ''The Buildings of England: Staffordshire'', (1974), 71 It was last refurbished in 2003 and it has since been placed on the ''

Heritage at Risk Register An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for actio ...

''. The building is now suffering from complex structural problems to the supporting concrete frame due to poor management conditions towards the building. It is slowly decaying, with currently no management solution agreed.

References

{{reflist Pubs in the West Midlands (county) Grade II listed buildings in the West Midlands (county) Grade II listed pubs in England