Henry Tudo Inn, Wyle Cop

Since 1429 (some reports claim carbon dating calculates since 1425) The Old Lion Tap Inn, one of the oldest timber framed properties Shrewsbury’s on Wyle Cop, has been a hostelry for tired travellers. Apart from being one of the last places where cock-fighting took place, Wyle Cop is one of the few streets in the country to have heating under it so that traffic can be kept moving up the hill in winter. Wyle Cop was dug up in 1963 to lay the cables in the road surface, although the works undertaken did not last long as traffic inevitably had an impact on the surface. The current iteration of the Grade I listed building is Henry Tudor Inn, now part of the Joules Brewery chain, which changed the name from Henry Tudor House in late 2023 after a 14 weeks’ refurbishment. During the War of the Roses, nobility in the form of the “Pretender” Henry Tudor, also known as the Earl of Richmond, stayed at this property, accompanied by weary troops on the way to do battle at Bosworth in August 1485 and to challenge King Richard III for the crown. Henry Tudor, born in Pembroke Castle in January 1457, had returned from his eleven-year exile in Brittany and had landed in Montgomeryshire with 2,000 French mercenaries, collecting supporters on his journey to Shrewsbury. Initially, Shrewsbury would not admit the invader. Thomas Mytton, the borough’s head bailiff, protested that he had sworn to King Richard III that Henry would enter Shrewsbury only over his body. After a night to settle matters with his conscience, and to heed the pleadings of those sympathetic to Henry Tudor, Mytton agreed to lie down and allow Henry Tudor to step symbolically over him into the town. Shrewsbury was the first town that was entered by Henry Tudor as his forces marched to Bosworth Field in Leicestershire to attempt to seize the crown of England from Richard III, barely a fortnight since his landing in South Wales. In July 1913 The Old Lion Tap Inn was bought at auction for £1,300 by Worthington Breweries. It remained with the brewery until May 1938 when the freehold of the premises and the cottage adjoining were sold at auction at the George Hotel by Coopers and Green Auctioneers; there was a name change to The Trotting Horse pub, until June 1992, when there was a refurbishment and a change to a ‘Continental style’ brasserie and ‘unique bar’. It subsequently stood empty for over a decade, and then returned to the name The Old Lion Tap Inn after being refurbished again into a more ‘traditional’ style. Barracks Passage was re-named due to the military connection. Henry Tudor and some of his soldiers made their way to Bosworth Field in 1485 after spending the night in Old Lion, with Henry Tudor lodged at the front of Barracks Passage (probably in the cottage), while his soldiers found accommodation nearby, and it is claimed some found a place to sleep in the passage itself. The officers were accommodated inside, where they received a warm welcome as they prepared for the fateful battle. Many of these soldiers never returned, their bodies remaining on the battlefield at Bosworth, but not, seemingly, their spirits. It has been claimed some lost spirits have returned to Shrewsbury because of the warm welcome given by the townspeople. Although Henry Tudor won the battle, becoming Henry VII of England, many of Henry’s soldiers were killed; it has been claimed their wrinkled, often bloodied, faces have peered in through the windows of The Old Lion Tap Inn from outside, as if searching for somebody, or perhaps looking for an explanation of what happened to them? The ghosts of these fallen soldiers, retracing their steps to the inn, are said to loiter in the passageway, the presence of other soldiers is ‘felt’ inside, where they once found comradeship and sought courage in a final drink before they departed for the fight. Some stories describe feelings of ‘unease’ in certain parts of the pub, or report corridor floors creaking as if someone is walking along them – only for staff or visitors to see nothing. In October 1995, manager Nigel Lee claimed in an interview there was just one solitary soldier: “Don’t worry though, he seems to be quite amicable!” It has been claimed this ghostly soldier has been seen in the archway leading to Barracks Passage and in certain rooms upstairs. It is uncertain if this solitary, ghostly, knight is in fact Henry Tudor himself, or simply one of his soldiers. Visitors and staff at the present-day establishment, now named Henry Tudor Inn (in 2000 it was the ‘Henry Tudor Steakhouse at the Old Lion Tap Inn’), have reported sightings of other apparitions in groups, looking forlorn, with some witnesses claiming to see the ghostly figures suddenly peering through the glass windows in the Barracks Passage - a poignant reminder of the soldiers’ happier times as they prepared for battle. It is unknown if the large boar’s head on one wall - the symbol of Richard III’s household - is a focal point or even a ‘portal’ from another place. There have been reports by staff of strange noises and creaking of the wooden floors from the banquet hall on the top floor, near to the kitchens, although the heat rising from the two floors below would provide the conditions for the timbers and rafters to expand and contract. There is no confirmation why somehow Rik Mayall’s Lord Flashheart character from Blackadder Series II set in Tudor Times, but his portrait – and those of other characters from television shows - are contained within the tap house booths. Some years ago, a medium was invited to seek out paranormal activity. In a room on the top floor (originally part of the cottage), named the Earl’s Quarter’s, named after Henry Tudor’s title as Earl of Richmond, they reported that this one room contained no spirits at all - the room had purportedly been the sleeping place of Henry Tudor - as the spirits of those who fell in combat do not enter it out of respect for their leader. A respectful haunting hierarchy with paranormal boundaries? Were these spirits simply elsewhere in the pub, or in the archway of Barracks Passage, repeating their preparations for their impending battle? Or on cold dark winter nights did they return to warm their cold bones on the heated tarmac of Wyle Cop?