Manchester Pub Sign The Old Wellington Inn
by One of two pubs in Manchester moved from one location to another, twice.
THE OLD WELLINGTON INN – Cathedral District, Manchester
The pub here has a fabulous history, and like its companion bar, Sinclair’s Oyster Bar, it has been physically taken down, relocated, and rebuilt to the same specifics, not once, but twice. It is the only other city centre bar, as well as Sinclair’s to have two pub signs.
While the signs on the Oyster bar depict different people, that on The Old Wellington depicts the same person, The Duke Of Wellington of the Napoleonic wars, in his youth, and in his military uniform.
Many Mancunians fought in the Napoleonic campaigns, up to and including the famous battle of Waterloo.
The pubs are sometimes still collectively known as The Shambles, but that dates from their second period of history in Shambles Square, now long since gone. The Mitre & Crown & Anchor bars nearby were not part of the nomadic existence of the Wellington & Sinclair’s bars.
The Old Wellington is the older of the two bars, dating from 1552 at least. The pub was a true inn, offering overnight accommodation to guests. Among the most illustrious patrons were the Byron family, and by the English Civil War, they came to own it. During the war, members, always in dispute, fought on each side.
In 1691, John Byron was born in the pub itself, growing to be the composer of the hymn, Christians Awake! In 1750. Despite his Christian beliefs, he was known to dabble in the occult, and to be in secret societies like the Freemasons and even the Illuminati.
Arthur Chappell
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