Ye Olde Murenger House is a 19th-century

pub 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 ...

with a

mock Tudor Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

front on

High Street, Newport, Wales High Street is the main historical street and the original main thoroughfare in the centre of Newport, South Wales. Nowadays it runs approximately 280m between Westgate Square and the Old Green Interchange (facing Newport Castle). Descripti ...

. It replaced a 17th-century pub, the Fleur de Lys, on the same site. It is named after the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

job of a murenger, a person who collected tolls for the repair of the town walls, and is

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

due to its historic interest to the immediate area.

History

The pub takes its name from the job of a murenger, a

person who collected tolls for the building or repair of town walls. The taxes were called a

murage Murage was a medieval toll for the building or repair of town walls in England, Wales and Ireland. Origin The term ''murage'', while having this specific meaning, could also refer to other aid for walls or to the walls themselves. It is generally ...

. A building on this site was first mentioned in 1533, a town house for the Herbert family of St Julians Manor. By the 17th century, it had become a pub called the Fleur de Lys. According to

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage s ...

the original building was a single-storey stone structure, which was demolished in 1816 and replaced by the current public house, established in 1819. A photo taken around 1900 shows the distinctive

jetties A jetty is a structure that projects from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signifying somet ...

did not exist at the time and these were added after this date. It became a Grade II listed building in 1951 because of its historic interest to the immediate area. In a poor state of repair in the 1970s, the pub was taken over by

Sam Smith's Samuel Smith Old Brewery, popularly known as Samuel Smith's or Sam Smith's, is an independent brewery and pub owner based in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England. It is Yorkshire's oldest brewery, founded in 1758, and one of three breweries in th ...

in 1980, repaired and re-opened in 1983. In 2014 Ye Olde Murenger was suggested as a candidate for the

Old Kent Road Old Kent Road is a major thoroughfare in South East London, England, passing through the London Borough of Southwark. It was originally part of an ancient trackway that was paved by the Romans and used by the Anglo-Saxons who named it Wæceli ...

space on a Newport version of the board game

Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

Description

The pub has three jettied storeys plus an attic with the

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

facing the street. The latter has a three-light casement window. The first and second storeys have broad

oriel window An oriel window is a form of bay window which protrudes from the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground. Supported by corbels, bracket (architecture), brackets, or similar cantilevers, an oriel window is most commonly found pro ...

s flanked by square panelling with a close studded band below. The facade of the ground floor is an early twentieth-century public house front on the left with a six-light window on the right side. It has a painting of the former undefeated British heavyweight champion boxer David 'Bomber' Pearce.

References

{{coord, 51.5889, N, 2.9962, W, source:wikidata, display=title Music venues in Newport, Wales Commercial buildings completed in the 19th century Grade II listed pubs in Wales Grade II listed buildings in Newport, Wales Culture in Newport, Wales Landmarks in Newport, Wales