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| Line drawing of the Crown |
As our local, we are very fond of the
Crown. It is just 50 metres away from St Vincent Guest House and all downhill coming back. We knew it was very old and looking at the history of it, found first written reference to it in 1789, when John Swete wrote in his journal:
“There is a little public house at Linton called the Crown, where, though the accommodations are but indifferent, the people are civil and attentive.”
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| 1841 tithe map |
This was well before Lynton became a tourist destination, but was known more for its wool production, livestock and fishing.
Starting its life as a coaching house in the 1760s, the Crown is one of the oldest buildings in Lynton (and now
grade II listed) and it quickly found itself because of its position as the epicentre of the area, being the only point of travelling contact with the outside world. It featured in the first national mapping project in 1841 and on this tithe map, is marked as number 38 and has an area of 30 perches (apparently, as a unit of area, a square perch - the perch being standardized to equal 16 1⁄2 feet, or 5 1⁄2 yards, so the Crown was 30 of them!)
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| Painting by Mick Cawston |
As well as being a hostelry, it became part of the recovery centre of the Lynmouth flood in 1952 and is also the place where the finest mural works of renowned, much-loved and much-missed artist Mick Cawston are on display. Rumour has it that he paid his bar bills by painting!
Rachel, Lee and their team run an excellent ship, and we have no hesitation in recommending them for their ales or their meals.
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