The claim
A whitewashed former guildhall above Kenfig Pool and the dunes, with three small rooms, gravity-served ales on stillage behind the servery and the old courtroom benches still in place. The Singing Room keeps its hatch to the bar. Owned by the Kenfig Corporation Trust, which spends the rent on the parish.
What the records show
CAMRA's guide entry says this inn dates from the 15th century; CAMRA's own heritage record, and Wikipedia's account of Kenfig, describe a building that began as the Kenfig Corporation guildhall, raised on pillars in the early 17th century and largely rebuilt in 1808, serving as town hall, courthouse and even a mortuary for sailors washed ashore, with the judges' benches and some 17th-century panelling still in the rooms. Thomas Gray's history of Kenfig, published in 1909, puts the order the other way about: he prints the schedule of the scheme that wound the corporation up in 1886, which lets 'the public house called the Prince of Wales Inn' with a garden, a pond and a field to Mrs Yorath for ten pounds a year, and he says the inn had in recent years become the town hall of the borough. That schedule is the earliest record traced of drink sold here. Nothing found records drinking here in the 15th century. The Kenfig Corporation Trust still owns it and gives the rents to local groups.
| Year | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1400 | Claimed founding | CAMRA |
| 1886 | First record of a drinking house here | Internet Archive |
What to look for inside
- Built as the Kenfig Corporation guildhall and used for years as a court
- Judges' benches and C17 panelling survive in the rooms
- Holds a pewter copy of the borough's ceremonial mace
Visiting
Prince of Wales is in Kenfig, Wales, at Kenfig, Bridgend. We do not list opening times, because they change; the pub’s own site is the place to check before you set out.
Sources
- camra.org.uk/pubs/prince-of-wales-kenfig-127903
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenfig
- archive.org/details/buriedcityofkenf00grayrich
- ratings.food.gov.uk/business/1081422
Know something we don’t?Suggest a correctionLast checked Sept 2026
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