The Mytton & Mermaid Hotel (1), Atcham

Image: © P L Chadwick Taken: 12 Mar 2011

The hotel, which is a Grade II listed building, is flanked by the B4380 road, and the River Severn. It has an interesting history. Built in 1735, it was an inn known as the Talbot Arms, a name linked with the Earls of Shrewsbury. It was rebuilt in the coaching era, when it was a stopping point on the route to Holyhead and Ireland. In the 1830's it came under the same ownership as Attingham Park, and the name was changed to the Berwick Arms. In the 1860's, with the spread of the railways, coaching inns declined and the property was sold as a private house, and re-named Atcham House. In the 1930's it was purchased by the famous architect Sir Clough Williams Ellis, who developed the Italianate village of Portmeirion in North Wales. Sir Clough converted the building to a hotel, which took the name of The Mytton and Mermaid. Mytton was the name of the local squire who squandered his fortune, and the Mermaid came from the crest of the Portmeirion hotel. In the stableyard there is or was a metal sculpture of a mermaid by Ralph Ellis. The mermaid also used to be appear on the hotel's sign, but sadly she has been banished. Image

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0