The Elephant and Castle was a public house on Charles Street in

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

, Wales, known to have existed in 1788, and closed in 1999. The building has housed the ''Magic Dragon Brewery Tap'' since 2019. It was sometimes known as the Elephant Inn.

Description and history

The Elephant and Castle public house was first recorded in the local rate books in 1788, and closed in 1999. The pub is named after the area of London with the same name. The pub was dependent on the trading occurring in the adjacent Beast Market. Behind the pub, and adjoining the Beast Market to its south, was a saw mill, which belonged to Edward Meredith Jones by 1881. During the 19th century, various incidents had taken place in the pub, including suicides and fights. One suicide was of George Smith (also known as William Smith) on 13 June 1863, who was the father of then 22-year old Annie Chapman, who would later be the second canonical victim of

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer who was active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer was also ...

. Smith accompanied his employer to a horse racing event, and later lodged with his employer that evening at the pub, but that night, Smith committed suicide by cutting his throat. In the late 1870s, the pub held a reputation locally for being a centre for debauchery, with fights and prostitution present in the pub. On one such occasion during this period, a local police superintendent had to dismiss three young police constables over their suspected use of the pub's prostitutes. On

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

1878, Ann Roach attempted to stab Bridget Brannan in the pub, whom she accused was maliciously gossiping about her, with a table

fork In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods either to h ...

after hitting Brannan with a

poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...

. Roach and Brannan both lived in ''Elephant Yard'' located behind the inn, which had become notorious for crime. Roach was sentenced six months'

hard labour Penal labour is a term for various kinds of forced labour that prisoners are required to perform, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence involving penal labour have included inv ...

, with Brannan later evicted due to lack of rent payment. In 1879, a police superintendent told the

magistrates The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a ''magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

that they considered the pub to be "the greatest curse of Wrexham", following accusations towards Caroline Edwards, a servant at the pub, of

vagrancy Vagrancy is the condition of wandering homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in begging, waste picker, scavenging, or petty theft. In Western ...

for sleeping in the pub's yard. The landlady, Ellen Birch, responded using abusive language to the accusations of the pub. On 15 September 1879, the

renewed the licence for the pub but 'did so reluctantly'. By 1880, the pub had hired a barman with 14 known convictions while working at the pub, including inducing teenage boys to steal

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which i ...

, who was given 15 months hard labour in the same year. The pub remained largely unchanged from the 1960s, and lost its license and closed in 1999. After closing, the premises housed various restaurants, including a Thai restaurant. It was later re-opened as a public house for the Magic Dragon Brewery as the Magic Dragon Brewery Tap in 2019. In 2023, the pub was announced by the

Campaign for Real Ale The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. History The organisation was founded on 16 ...

(CAMRA) as the best pub in Wales.

References

{{Wrexham, state=collapsed Pubs in Wrexham

Description and history

See also

References