News, Offers & Information

Our Restaurant has recently undergone a complete refurb so come and see for yourself the changes we have made.

  Sunday Lunch

Still only £4.95
(booking is advisable)

Burger & a Pint

£4.95 per purchase
(see menu for details)

Curry Night

£4.95 per purchase
(see menu for details)

Steak Night

£7 for the Two
(see menu for details)

Early Bird Menu

99p
(see menu for details)

Childrens Area

The Saltwells Inn has a large area where you children can play in safety.

Getting Here

The Saltwells Inn family pub is located two miles south of Dudley in the Black Country and accessible via many local bus route's. Proceed on A4036, turn left at Merry Hill traffic lights (signposted) and continue for half a mile along Coppice Lane. Turn left at sign for Saltwells Inn. Car parking is free for the nature reserve. To get further information on getting here please follow this Link to Google Maps.

Must Visit

Dean also now own's The Black Lion pub which is near Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. This lovely traditional Staffordshire pub is situated at the heart of Churnet Valley along-side the Churnet Valle railway. If you would like to view the web site for the Black Lion then click the icon below and we will take you there. 

 Function Room

We now have a function room for hire and can also provide a buffet if required. For further details call 01384 560224.

 

Welcome to the Saltwells Inn [Free House]

The Saltwells Inn Free House family pub is well known in the area for it's good well priced food and excellent beer, Set in the heart of the Saltwells Nature Reserve the Saltwells Inn enjoys an idyllic setting with splendid rambling walks, ideal for boaters also with the Dudley No2 canal a 5 minute walk away.

Doctor Robert Plot in his Natural History of Staffordshire published in 1636, refered to '....the Salt Wells of Lady Wood', their popularity, in the Black Country, and the numbers of people 'taking the waters'. It is likely that a tavern was standing on the site at this time to provide refreshments.

Originally known as Lady Wood Saline Spa, but commonly called the 'Salt Wells'; the first reference to a licence here is in 1810, when an alehouse of that name was kept by Thomas Holloway.

Mr Bently in his Trade Directory dated 1841, wrote '...Saline Spa, or Salt Wells, situated in a retired spot at Lady Wood, about 2 miles south of the town (Dudley), are much resorted to in the summer by invalids and others, to derive benefit from their highly medicinal waters'.

Both Georgian and Victorian licensing hours were generous to a fault; 18 hours a day, 4am to 10pm seven days a week, closed only during Divine Service, Christmas Day, and Good Friday. As an inn, the Salt Wells was permitted by Dudley magistrates to remain open as long as a bed or room was empty; offering basic accomodation, simple victuals, homebrewed ale, and stabling to the lawful traveller. The Saltwells Inn was, of necessity a homebrewed house, it was outside a days carting distance from the nearest common brewer in Dudley. Holloway would have brewed the popular ale, a form of malty mild; heavy, dark, sweet, strong, and cheep at 2d a quart. It was difficult for Victorian tradesmen to make a living from a single occupation, running a public house was not then regarded as a profession

The Earl of Dudley sold the premises to Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries, 19 August 1927. Sadley the old brine baths fell into decline through lack of interest. The old Saltwells Inn was demolished and rebuilt partially on the old site. It reopened in 1939, and remains today little changed. As a final historical note, in the 1850's a movement was made to form a company to run a pipe line to Netherton, but the price demanded for royalties was so high as to make the scheme impracticable. Had the projected plan gone ahead, it would have transformed the whole area. Netherton Spa might have become a tourist attraction. The historic Saltwells Inn is now owned by Dean Pearsall

 

 Licensees

Homebrewed/Alehouse

 1810  Thomas Holloway
 1850
 1850  Margaret Holloway
 1855
 1855  Edward Griffiths
 1861
 1861  Margaret Griffiths
 1863
 1863  Samuel King
 1880
 1880  Moses Hill
 1885
 1885  Ann Faux
 1901
 1901  Geaorge Henry Flavell
 1922
 1922  Isabella Flavell
 1923
 1923  William Bentley  1929
 1929  George Jackson
 1930
 1930  Henzie Johnson
 1931
 1931  Ernest Bunn
 1936
 1936  John Leslie Swanson
 1940
 1940  Ernest Bunn
 1956
 1956  Richard Highfield
 1958
 1958  Thomas Bunn
 1964
 1964  Frederick Stanley Crumpton
 1969
 1969  Robert Wilson
 1971
 1971  Leslie Thomas Vincent
 1972
 1972
 Douglas Arthur Matthews
 1977
 1977  Sydney Richard Lee
 1983
 1983  Daniel Robert Lynch
 1984
 1984
 Richard Kevin Jones
 1985
 1985  Gillian Stewart
 2002
 2002  Dean Pearsall
 0000

 Lady Wood Saline Spa 1884