Please note, the majority of properties on the trail are now private residences,

please respect their privacy.

Y Ceffyl Du

The Black Horse was formerly known as Y Ceffyl Du, was one of two 16th-century inns standing almost opposite each other, the other being the Fox and Hounds. By the mid-19th century it was certainly functioning as a public house: the 1851 census records George David as its tenant, while in 1861 it was occupied by Elizabeth Griffiths. Interestingly, the Society's research suggests that Jane “Grandma” Price, the long-serving landlady of the Fox and Hounds, also controlled the Ceffyl Du for a period. However, its trade appears to have been poor, and by the later 19th century it was no longer being recorded by the name Black Horse in the censuses.

The story of the pub's decline is particularly interesting because the two inns were effectively neighbours and competitors in the heart of the old village. According to local recollections recorded by Sid Perkins in 1969, “Grandma Price” controlled both inns, but custom at the Ceffyl Du was poor and “the Black Horse died.” By the 1891 census the building was still occupied, by Jane Price's widowed daughter-in-law Mary and her five children, but it was no longer functioning as a named public house. The Llancarfan Society also notes that an old photograph of the village from around 1900 shows the Black Horse still standing, although it had ceased to be occupied sometime between the 1891 census and the turn of the century.

This gives us a rather nice piece of Llancarfan history: for centuries the village had two pubs facing one another, but ultimately the Fox and Hounds survived while the Ceffyl Du/Black Horse disappeared.