the robin hood inn building has late medieval origins. it is constructed in stone, with a wide, fifteenth-century four-centre doorway and is a rare medieval survival in monmouth. post the reformation, the town was a centre for catholicism and the landlord in the 1770s, michael watkins, allowed mass to be celebrated in an upper room of the pub. the penal laws against catholics were in force until the papists act of 1778, and watkins was amongst those who successfully petitioned monmouth magistrates to allow a building that would become st mary's roman catholic church. this public house and the church that michael watkins lobbied for are two of the 24 buildings in the monmouth heritage trail. a blue plaque was added to the exterior of the building in 2009, which celebrated the religious history of the building.