The Hole In The Wall.

Address	Shoplatch.
Real Ales	No

The inn that we have today is an amalgamation of two former public houses, the Market Vaults and the old Hole In The Wall. The inn is also on the site of a much older hostelry the Gullet Inn, which was mentioned in accounts for the town as early as 1527. For almost two hundred years it seems to have been the favourite lodgings for travelling performers, which we see from the same accounts when Lord Willoughby's actors, who were staying at the Gullet, were rewarded by the town council with 3s 1½d for their performance. In 1630 there is also mention of the inn having its own indoor tennis court for Real tennis as played by Henry VIII. The inn was sold in 1788 and was closed by 1793.

The section of the inn that faces Shoplatch and runs into the Gullet Passage has the date of 1863 embellished across the front of the building. It was first recorded as the Market House in 1868 the year before Shrewsbury's new general market was opened on the opposite side of the road. It has also been called the Market or the Market Vaults but to the locals it was also known as the Blood Tub. There has been some speculation about the origin of this name, with some believing that it referred to the colour and texture of the beer, while others thought that it was once a good place for a brawl.

W.R. Gough the manager in 1886 advertised "Wholesale and retail wine and spirits, ale and porter dealer. Burton Ale and Dublin Stout on draught and in bottles. First class spirits and cigars. Billiards and smokerooms. In 1900 the inn was owned by William Hall the proprietor of the Tithe Barn Street Brewery in Preston. The landlord was James Cave who ran a free house with seven private and four public rooms and overnight accommodation for two people in single rooms.

A fire broke out at the inn in December 1943 when Laurie Miller was landlord. A wooden floor became alight but with the rapid arrival of the National Fire Brigade, who were based close by on Cross Hill, the blaze was soon extinguished with little damage to the inn.

The old Hole In The Wall stands in Drayton's Passage a narrow alley leading from Shoplatch. Its name is derived from its location in a confined space and was originally the local nickname for the inn. It was first recorded in 1883 as the Star Vaults and later as Hughes's Wine and Spirits Vault. It is built on the site of Shute's Place a 13th century stone mansion and in the 17th century the cellar was part of a debtor's prison.

In 1985 a plan costing over £250,000 to incorporate the two inns was unveiled by the brewery Mitchell and Butler. Work took several months to complete and several remains from the old mansion were uncovered and incorporated into the new building. Several exciting finds were also unearthed including clay pipes, pottery and a letter about the Black Death dated 1660. The first landlord of the refurbished inn was Eric Rock with his wife Agnes who had been licensees of the Monkmoor Hotel since 1980.