Garway Moon Inn circa 1915

Garway Moon Inn, possibly 1930s or 1940s

From the 12th to the 16th centuries the manor of Garway was owned by the Knights Templars and the Knights Hospitallers, who built the church (St Michael's) in 1180 and the beautifully preserved dovecote in 1326. It is likely that there has been an Inn at some location in Garway since the arrival of the Knights Templar. However, we believe that the Moon originated as a farm building in the 18th century, around 1750, with the farmer turning his hand to cider making to supplement his income.

Whilst the Moon is currently the only pub in the village, this hasn’t always been the case. At one stage Garway and the surrounding hamlets supported four public houses – The Sun (Garway Hill), The Globe (Garway Hill), The Moon (Garway Common) and the Stars (Orcop). Sadly, only the Moon now remains with the other buildings having been converted into private houses.

Records show that in the early 19th Century we were known as Webbs, likely after the family that owned the farm surrounding the building. However, by 1851 we were known as the ‘Half Moon’ owned by the Walters family with William Walters as the publican but listed as a farmer of 9 acres. William’s selection of the ‘Half Moon’ as a name has interesting connections with Garway’s Templar history given that crusaders shields often bore the charge of a ‘crescent’, popularly changed to the ‘half moon’ as time went on. By 1871 the name was changed to the ‘Full Moon’ with Williams’ wife Lucy listed as the Publican.

Ten years later any reference to the Moon had been dropped and the building was known as the Garway Inn. This may have been due to the arrival of a new family, the Smiths, a local family all born in Garway. They may well have been the first family to introduce rooms for rent. However, by 1891 the Pritchard family had moved in, with the family head Rubin balancing the roles of publican and carpentry.

The later part of the 19th century wasn’t without its problems. A number of criminal charges were brought against customers. In 1873, a George Williams was charged with being drunk and fined, along with two further customers on Licensing day in 1875. In 1894, Thomas Price was found ‘worst for liquor’ and would not leave the Garway Inn and a similar charge was brought against Thomas Carrier in 1895. By 1901 the census tells us that Rubin had changed the name back to the Full Moon but was still balancing two jobs as a Joiner and Inn Keeper.

Further research into ownership of the Moon after 1901 has been difficult due to the restrictions on access to census information, as more information is gleamed we will update the website. However, one thing is for sure…from 26 November 2007 the Bolderson family took over the Garway Moon Inn and plan to be here for a long time! Thanks to David M. Dunstall for the research assistance and to Tony Powell for the supply of photographs.