Origins of the Rose and Crown

The Rose and Crown Hotel, Victoria Street, was probably built sometime in between 1861 and 1863.  There is no mention of it on the 1861 census, however it is recorded in local newspapers in July 1863 as  one of the places the injured, of the rail crash of that month, were taken to.

It is next mentioned in the news in the December 28th 1867 issue of the Monmouthshire Merlin when three men, Jesse Sadler, David Harrison and Edward Harrison appeared in court charged with having assaulted a woman named Mary Parker.  Landlord, Charles Coles said that Mary and her husband had been drinking at the hotel from five thirty in the evening until eight thirty.  Eventually he refused to serve them further as they were drunk.  Mary's husband then caused a row by hitting one of the three men and by drinking out of a pint vessel that did not belong to him.  He also hit the landlord in the eye which prevented him from seeing for three days.  The three men were discharged while Mary and her husband paid the court costs.

We can never know if it was this incident that caused Charles Coles to give up the Rose and Crown but not long after it was taken over by Robert Sawtell, aged 38, from Poulton, Somerset.  He is seen on the 1871 census with his wife Catherine and four children, Charles, 8, Elizabeth, 6, Benjamin, 4 and James, who was five, months.  They also employed a servant, Ann Rodell who was 21.

In September 1872 an inquest was held by Mr Brewer, coroner, on an unknown man who had died on the 10th of the month.  Daniel James Baker, a police constable said he had called at the Rose and Crown at 10.35 p.m., staying until 10.52 p.m. when the landlord began to close up for the night.  He saw the man in the kitchen who remarked that he had asked Mr Sawtell for a pipe of tobacco half an hour earlier.  The P.C.  handed him some, the man put it in his pipe, lit it and walked out, perfectly sober.  The P.C. later passed him on the bridge over the train line, where he said nothing.  The P.C. heard nothing more until the man was picked up off the train tracks at 6.40 the next morning.  He was suffering from concussion and later died at Newport Hospital.

Many social gatherings were held at the hotel.  In January 1873, the puddlers of the Patent Nut and Bolt Works held their annual supper at the Rose and Crown where an 'excellent meal' was provided by Mr and Mrs Sawtell.  The workmen were also congratulated on their prosperity while those in other parts of the country could barely afford life's basics.

The census of 1881 records three more children for the Sawtells - Alfred, 7, Ada, 5 and Kate,3.  There is also a servant, Eliza Lear, age 15 who was Robert Sawtell's niece.

The Rose and Crown was in the news again the following year.  In May 1882, Thomas Stevens, a labourer was drunk and riotous on the premises and was refusing to leave, which led to a fine of ten shillings.  Then in 1883 it was in the news again, twice.  In May of that year, Mr Brewer held an inquest at the police station regarding the death of William Edwards who had died at the station on 17th April. On the day, Edwards had gone to the Halfway where landlord, Mr Brooker had told him to go home as he was drunk.  He didn't though, instead he went to the Rose and Crown where Mr Sawtell didn't notice and served him a quart of beer.  Edwards did not drink it all but gave some to a friend.  From the Rose and Crown he was then carried to a railway fence and left there, later being moved to the police station.  During the night he was visited a few times by P.C. Lawrence who found his condition to be worsening.  He sent for a doctor who requested that hot bricks should be placed on Edwards's feet but it was to no avail.  A post mortem was carried out on the 22nd and he was later buried.  The doctor said at the inquest Edwards had died from blood on his brain.
Seven months later the Rose and Crown was burgled!

A quiet period followed, as far as news stories go.  In May 1894 the men of the fire brigade held their annual dinner at the Rose and Crown.  So too did members of Cwmbran Football Club in 1896, in order to elect officers for the coming season.

On the 28th June 1900, Robert Sawtell died and Catherine became landlady. The license for the premises was transferred to her in August.   The  1901 census shows she had three of her children still living with her as well as servant, Annie Payne.

Tragedy struck in September 1907.  Mrs Charlotte Davies of 64 Victoria Street was due to go away on a trip with her husband.  He left her to go to the station to get tickets while she went to the Rose and Crown to leave their house keys with the landlady for safe keeping.  When she did not arrive at the station to meet her husband, he went to look for her.  He found her in the yard outside, she was dead.  Dr Murphy was called and certified her death.  Strangely he thought no inquest was necessary as Mrs Davies had been suffering from heart disease.

Catherine Sawtell was in her seventies when Mr J. W. Everett of Pontypool applied for the transfer of the license, in 1909, to her son in law, George Waters, who had married her daughter, Ada.  It is George Waters who is head of the household on the 1911 census, with Ada assisting in the family business.  They had three children at this time - Robert, 6, Dorothy Catherine, 4 and Lilian, 2.  They had a servant, Emily Toms, 16 and Catherine Sawtell is also living with them, aged 74, as she would do until her death on 7th April 1916.

Victoria Street, Cwmbran

photo source - Wikimedia commons

Chartists at the Lower Cock Inn

The Lower Cock Inn was situated on the Highway in Croesyceiliog where the Tewdric Court bungalows are now.  It is unclear when it was built but it did play a part in the Chartist uprising of 4th November 1839.

It has been generally accepted in local lore that it was the nearby Upper Cock Inn that played host to the Chartists however an article in the South Wales Daily News from 21 April 1877, which reproduced letters written by one of the leaders, Zephaniah Williams, tells another story.

At the time of the Chartists march on Newport, the Lower Cock Inn was kept by Mrs Glazebrook.  For three days previous the inn had been exhibiting a boy from Carmarthenshire.  He was thirteen and known as the 'Porcupine Boy' due to him being covered in wart-like scales all over his body.  After his departure the village of Croesyceiliog returned to normal, blissfully unaware of the events that were about to unfold.

The night of the march was 'wet, dark and miserable'.  The only customer in the Lower Cock was a man named Absalom  from Pembrokeshire.  The landlady's son had gone to bed allowing his mother to close up the house.

Not long afterwards, a man named Barnabus, a brewer from Pontypool arrived along with another man, Thomas Watkins, also from Pontypool.  They knocked and asked where 'Glazebrook' was, explaining that their horses were 'completely knocked up', but as Glazebrook was in bed they decided they would try to carry on a bit further with their journey.  They next arrived at the Upper Cock Inn and called to the landlord, Joe Davis and left their horses there. After a few drinks they left and walked to Pontypool.

The first group of Chartists marched through Croesyceiliog without stopping.  Mrs Glazebrook was now in her bedroom, unaware of anything happening outside.  She was undressed and ready for sleep until someone knocked on the door.  The person shouted 'Glazebrook!' a couple of times and she in return shouted from her window  'Who is there?'  It was so dark though and the rain so heavy, she could barely see.  Her son heard her shouting and decided it was probably 'some old customer from the hills'.

Eventually though, Mrs Glazebrook received a reply.  The voice said 'A friend from the Varteg who wants a quart of beer'.  Mrs Glazebrook replied 'Well if you will drink it quickly, you shall have a quart of beer'.  She put on a gown, went downstairs, opened the door and handed the man a jug.
'Let me come in a minute out of the rain' he continued but as soon as he had set foot inside it was obvious he was not alone as a number of other men rushed in with him.

Hearing the commotion, the son jumped out of bed, hurriedly got dressed and ran downstairs to find the inn full of rain drenched men.
'Hello' he said 'What is up my lads?  Where are you all going to?'
'To Newport' they told him.
He observed a man named Parry held a stable pike in his hand.
'What are you going to do with that?' he asked
'This is to turn them over' was the reply.
The Chartists then insisted fires should be lit in all the rooms.  Mr Glazebrook needed to get coal for this and on going out through the back door to get some, observed an array of pikes, scythes and knives fastened to the end of long sticks.  He eventually learned of the Chartist rising and realised his house was full of them.

After warming themselves, drinking freely, the Chartists quietly went on their way.  Not long after, another group arrived demanding drink.  Mr Glazebrook thought it was wise to be civil and be as obliging as possible and in return the Chartists acted the same.  Some of them sought refuge at the inn.
'They took me as I was going to chapel' said one 'And I, as I was eating my super' said another.  Some hid themselves in the cellar, others in the bedrooms until it was safe to escape and return to their homes.

At six o clock the following morning, Jones the Watchmaker, dressed in a suit of black, walked into the Lower Cock.  He asked for a glass of brandy and sat down.  Mr Glazebrook approached him and confronted him.
'It appears to me that you are one of the leaders of this Chartist affair; depend upon it if so, you will either be hanged or transported'.
'Do you think so?' asked Jones
'Yes' was the reply 'for this going to Newport is a wrong idea altogether'.
At that point some more men arrived and on seeing Jones exclaimed, while holing a blunderbuss to his ear
'Jones! Damn me if he hasn't turned traitor!  You should have been in Newport hours ago!  If you don't come at once I'll blow your brains out!'
So Jones jumped up and went.  As the gang left one of them grabbed Mr Glazebrook and tried dragging him along with them, only releasing him after his protests that he needed to look after his mother.

On their return from Newport the Chartists again called at the Lower Cock, they were wet, tired and had their spirits broken.  A tragedy would have occurred here then, had it not been for Mr Glazebrook who thwarted the attempts of the Chartists to dry their wet gunpowder by the fire!

By the 20th century the Lower Cock Inn was no longer run by the Glazebrook family.  At the brewster sessions in March 1904 its license was refused as it was no longer deemed necessary.  The Lower Cock ceased to exist as an inn and the building fell into disrepair.  In February 1905 a Mr Corner submitted plans in court for the rebuilding of the inn but after deliberation the justices disapproved.  The Lower Cock was inhabited as a dwelling until 1949 until swept away by the Cwmbran new town plans.

William Jones, the Watchmaker