The present day Red Lion and neighbouring Red Lion Cottages were part of a substantial property fronting Coleshill Green, once belonging to the Ball family of Brentford Barn. In the 1680s, the house there was occupied by Thomas Glenister of Coleshill, maltster. Although contemporary deeds mention a malthouse and a kiln, there is no evidence that the house was an inn at this period. From Thomas Glenister, the house passed to the Poet Edmund Waller and then to the Child family of Amersham, Woodrow and Coleshill.
During the late 18th century, part of the Child's house fronting Coleshill Green became a beerhouse, occupied by John Nash and later by William Nash. It proximity to Amersham made it a target for the expanding Weller's Brewery and it was duly purchased from the trustees of William Child of Woodrow in 1802. The conveyance described it as 'all that messuage or tenement with the appurtenances situate standing and being in the Hamlet of Coleshill aforesaid heretofore in the occupation of John Nash or his assigns, afterwards of William Nash and now of Lydia Nash widow of the said William Nash or her assigns, being likewise a public house called or known by the name or sign of the Red Lion'.
Lydia Nash remained as the Wellers' tenant at the Red Lion well into the 1830s. Her successors over the next 100 years included Thomas Wilson, Benjamin Stone, Sophia Smith, Henry George, Henry Gilbert, John Dyke, Thomas Gilbert, Arthur Hudson, Mark Grace, George Godley, Henry Parkinson, James Weedon and George Smith. In 1926, the Red Lion was rebuilt by Weller's Brewery and a new tenant, J.F. Butler, took over its management, paying a rent of £22 10s per year. The new accommodation comprised a public bar, tap room, bar parlour, kitchen, scullery and cellar. Above these rooms was a sitting room and four bedrooms. In 1929, the Red Lion passed with all the Wellers' tied houses to Benskin's Watford Brewery. Their tenant in 1952 was Alfred Smith. Today, the Red Lion is very much the centre of village life. It has been run for many years by John and Christine Ullman who now own the freehold.