The Mount Inn stands within the motte or ‘mount’ of an earthwork and timber castle that was built around 1280 to defend the newly founded town of Llanidloes. The motte crumbled long ago and houses, some of which eventually formed The Mount, began to be built within the ruins.  

 

The Mount was originally one of the scores of alehouses which existed in the town in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and signs of that period are to be found within it - especially the ‘pitched’ flooring at the entrance. Dating from the eighteenth century this traditional Montgomeryshire feature is of national importance.

 

The Mount has been of local importance too: in 1859-60 its publican, John Kinsey, was mayor of Llanidloes and meetings of the Borough Council were held here. Today guests won’t find a council meeting going on, but they will meet with a tradition of hospitality that literally goes back for centuries.

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If you are interested in the history of Wales, the prize-winning Llanidloes-based historian Dr David Stephenson gives classes in Welsh medieval history in  the restaurant of The Mount on Tuesday evenings (7.00) and Wednesday afternoons (2.00) to which visitors are welcomed.