Six Roman coins in excellent condition dating from the time of Constantine the Great were found in an old stone drain in the garden here, so this ancient site must have links back to Roman times.
In the Middle Ages the site is thought by many to have been an outpost of the large Cistercian monastery at Maenan in the Conwy Valley known as Aberconwy Abbey.
If so, the monks responsible for collecting the fish from the ancient fishing weir would have used it as an overnight stop. (There is a tradition that a monk wearing a brown habit and white cloak still haunts the building!).
What is certain is that a charter of Llewellyn the Great dated in the year 1230 records that all rights in the land of ‘Ros Veneych’ were bought by his chief adviser Ednyfed Fychan ‘on condition that he paid a rent of 2 shillings each year (10p in modern money) to pay for lamps in the parish church at Easter.’
Ednyfed was a very important figure in Welsh history. He also owned a manor house at the foot of Bryn Euryn, the hill at the back of Rhos.
We also know from a charter that Rhos Fynach, together with its lands and fishing rights (i.e. the weir), was granted to a certain Captain Henry Morgan in 1575 by the Earl of Leicester for the princely sum of 6 pence. These favourable terms were granted ‘in recognition of his services rendered at sea in connection with the Queen’s enemies’. In other words Captain Morgan was a sea rover in the Francis Drake tradition, a privateer who was probably not too particular whether England was technically at war or not with the ships he attacked. Sadly, he was not the notorious pirate Captain Morgan (the one the well-known rum is named after), despite rumours to the contrary.
The Rhos Fynach is now a charming and much-loved traditional and dog-friendly pub, and is beautifully restored. Find out more about the Rhos Fynach here.