Posted on Leave a comment

The Old Swan Inn and the White Hart Inn, Llantwit Major | Pirates, scholars, and money makers | Historic pubs of Wales episode 4.

The Old Swan Inn and the White Hart in Llantwit Major

What’s the oldest pub in Llantwit Major? What links it to Britain’s first educational institution and the most successful pirate and smuggler in eighteenth century south Wales? What did the American newspaper tycoon; William Randolph-Hearst have in common with King Arthur and his knights of the roundtable at the court of Camelot?

In Llantwit Major we have two pubs on the medieval town square with history oozing from every beam. In this video I talk about the Old Swan Inn and the White Hart Inn.

They have a chequered history in which they have been inns, shops, the royal mint and bank of an ancient Welsh king, the headquarters of a notorious pirate and smuggler and the bolt hole for some of Hollywood’s most celebrated stars of the silver screen. To say nothing of a secret network of tunnels, the ghost of a Roman soldier, Britain’s first ever school or university and its links with the legendary King Arthur of the court of Camelot.

Click to watch the video

Leave a Reply