We’re delighted to announce that after two years and a lot of hard work, today we successfully purchased The Prince of Wales Inn in Newtown St Martin.

The group, which began its efforts in June 2020 after the pub closed due to lockdown has recently completed purchase of the pub. The group raised around £500,000 to secure the business thanks to support from shareholders and funders including The Plunkett Foundation and the Government’s levelling up scheme the Community Ownership Fund.

“We are so grateful to all the shareholders and our funders as well as members of our local community who have offered support, both financial and otherwise.,” says Chair of the group Katie Nightingale. “We have all had a challenging journey but we are a strong community and I would also like to thank the committee, being Viki and Adam Carpenter and Mark Gittins who have worked so incredibly hard through this process. We’re also grateful to Sarah Doolin who put in so much work and to the Briants the former owners.

The opening party took place on November 11th 2022 and we are all excited to really bring this pub alive to restore it to the heart of our local community.

Did you know that the Prince of Wales is a grade II listed building and that parts of the pub are thought to date back to the 17th century and there are records of innkeepers and their families dating back to the 18th century. See more about the history of the building here.

Here’s the oldest photograph we have been able to find of the pub, courtesy of Mark Gittins, our committee member who was given this photo by a gentleman who remembered that that lady standing here lived in the house just to her right.