The Watergates Bar

About

Watergates is said to be situated in the oldest medieval crypt in England. This historic building dates back to the 12th century.

Story

Set in what is said to be the oldest medieval crypt in England, this grade 1 listed building dates back to 1108.

The crypt was originally constructed during Norman times, as a storage warehouse by the merchants who owned the shops on the rows, keeping their stock below the shop, thier business on the rows and thier homes above.

Used as a hospital and a morgue during the great plague, it is said to have a fair share of ghosts! The most famous of the ghosts, being that of a Catholic priest caught saying mass in St.Peter's, by Cromwells Roundheads during the English civil war and bricked into his below ground tunnel that is said to join the two.

The central position within the town walls led to many other uses throughout the ages. The time as the armoury for the town is still evident, with the hooks that were used to hold the longbows and quivers full of arrows, still in place today.

More recently Watergates was a wine merchants, with two large long "Barrel rooms" used for storage and fermentation of the grapes, brought up the river Dee from the port of Liverpool.