Whilst the Sun Inn was built around 1830, the first pub on the site of the Red Lion Inn was built in 1801. Originally called the Union Arms after the 1800 Act of Union of Great Britain and Ireland it had a symbolic sign above the door of two clasped hands. As was customary, it brewed its own beer. Enlarged in the 1840s to accommodate the number of Irish labourers constructing the railway, in 1852 it changed hands and name, becoming the Red Lion. The new owner also had a butcher’s shop in Ty Mawr Terrace, Llawr Pentre and he built the first stone steps down to Llawr Pentre. The pub was demolished in 1898 and rebuilt in 1900.
