The Black Boy Inn is a hotel located in Caernarfon, which is in the Royal Borough of North Wales in England. The inn was built in 1522 and is one of the few remaining public houses owned by an independent family business in the U.K.
There are theories behind the naming of the hotel, including one that says it was named after a black boy that came over by ship in the 16th century. After the year 1828, the hotel, which is located on Northgate Street, was renamed the Kings Arms then 'Fleur de Lys' before going back to the title Black Boy Inn once again.
The Black Boy Inn sits in the red-light district of the city. It's located near 'Stryd Pedwar a Chwech' which translates as “Four and Six Pence” in Welsh. This was said to be the amount needed to have a ‘good time’ in the district, and equal to the purchase of liquor and a night companion.
The sign on the Black Boy Inn is a sketch of a black man on one side and a black buoy on the other. There are four on the outside of the building. In the 1990’s, a renovation was done and archeologists unsuspectingly found a child’s shoe and the jawbone of an animal under the floorboards of the dining room. To add to the Inn’s mysterious legend, some have claimed to see the ghost of a nun who has been seen in the hallways by visitors. She was apparently on her way to the nunnery that used to be located near the Inn.
The Black Boy Inn continues to be an option for travelers in the Royal Borough area.
