In 1858 nails were being manufactured in the area of Clearwell. The nailers bought metal strips from which they made 4 inch pit spikes which were then delivered to the Dean mines by donkeys laden with panniers.
Clearwell Meend is a portion of land above the village of Clearwell and behind Clearwell Caves. The area was once heavily industrialised and there are remnants of pit workings visible to this day. , Perhaps the fate of the Nailers Arms coincided with the demise of industry in the location.
The Nailers Arms was owned by Clemima Smith but leased to the Monmouth Brewery. In 1891 and 1903 the beer house had an annual rateable value of £11.4s.0d. and closed at 10 pm. James Harris was the occupying landlord. The Nailers Arms is believed to have closed in 1922.
Lee Gunter contacted me recently about his mother’s house in nearby Sling which was called Burnt Houses. He told me that his grandparents lived there in the 1940’s and they remember it as a store and post office which burnt down and was rebuilt into four terraced houses named Burnt Houses. Lee’s grandparents never recalled it being a pub, but Lee’s research on the internet seem to suggest that it was the former location of the Nailers Arms.
