Pub history · No.8 of 18 · Madeley
The All Nations Inn
1789 | 103 years with one family
Even the name sets this pub apart.
The All Nations opened in 1789 and has survived while dozens of Madeley Wood beerhouses around it disappeared.
Strictly speaking, it isn't in the Ironbridge Gorge at all — it's in Madeley Wood.
We know that. We had a vote on it anyway, decided it was too good to leave out, and adopted it into our 18-pub story.
The traditional explanation for its unusual name comes from the workforce.
The pits, ironworks and brickyards around Madeley Wood attracted workers from far and wide.
Locally, people talked about men from “all nations”.
Somewhere along the way, the description became the name above the door.
Then came the Baguley family.
They held the licence for an extraordinary 103 years.
And from 1832 they brewed beer on the premises.
Road schemes, licensing reductions, industrial decline and demolition wiped scores of small pubs from this part of Madeley.
The All Nations slipped through the net.
Still there. Still a pub.
How we know this date
- DocumentedThe building carries a dated brick inscribed “IPR 1789”, recorded in its Grade II listing. It is the strongest single piece of dating evidence on this entire list.Source: Historic England list entry 1054099
- TraditionThe pub's own history says the inn opened in 1789 under the Baguley family, with brewing commencing in 1832; the Brewery History Society puts brewing from 1789 itself. We flag the difference rather than quietly resolve it.Source: All Nations Inn's own history; Brewery History Society
This is a working date. If you have a document or photograph that changes it, we'd genuinely like to see it.
They held the licence for an extraordinary 103 years.
Then
Now
The All Nations Inn · Madeley
Can you help with The All Nations Inn?
We're still researching this pub. Old photographs, licences, newspaper cuttings, brewery documents or family memories all help — and if you have evidence that changes our date, we'd genuinely like to see it.
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