Just How Old is This Old Pub?

When talking about the oldest pubs in Newport, two pubs will come to mind. The Carpenters and Ye Olde Murenger House. Today, we’re going to be talking about The Murenger. Last week, I told you the story of Tom Toya Lewis and how he ended up getting a pub named after him. The Murenger also has an interesting story about how it got its name.

In Medieval times, a murenger was someone who was responsible for collecting tax that would see the repairing and overall maintenance of the town’s walls. This tax was called a murage. The site where the murenger pub sits now is where the Murenger lived and outside the pub, you can see the pub’s sign which shows a man (most likely the murenger) and in the background a wall (most likely one of the town walls)

But the Murenger was not the first pub to be opened on this site. Although the first recording we have of a building on this site was a house in the 1500s, The Murenger replaced a 17th-century pub, the Fleur de Lys. The original building was demolished in 1816 and the Murenger took its place in 1819.