Details
WARE TOWN
TL3514NE BALDOCK STREET
829-1/7/31 (East side)
08/05/50 No.26
The Old Bulls Head Inn with attached
former assembly rooms and stables
(Formerly Listed as:
BALDOCK STREET
No.26
The Old Bulls Head Inn)
GV II
House, now public house with living accommodation above. C16
altered and extended C17, carriageway adjoining formed C19,
and major extensions constructed late C19. Interior ground
floor refurbished and opened out 1980s.
EXTERIOR: 2 storeyed 2 bay early C16 building with continuous
jettied first floor to west elevation. Old tiled roof above
wide eaves overhang with cornice carried on corbels and paired
out profiled consoles, with red brick chimneystack adjoining
carriageway. Front attic dormers, now removed, added to west
elevation. Jettied first floor carried on curved brackets,
with flush fascia covering projecting ends of joists. Studs
exposed, with colourwashed pebbledashed infilling. Twin
projecting oriel bays c1600, with curved and moulded spandrel
below. Wood window frames of mullion and transom pattern with
ovolo mouldings with egg and dart ornament to transoms and
mullions with raised edges. Modern plain fixed glazing and
undivided opening casements. Ground floor has stuccoed facing
beneath jetty, with masonry lining. 2 canted oriel bay
windows; left hand mid C19, closed, with glazing bars, carried
on 3 cut brackets; right hand C18, with sashes, carried on 2
cut brackets. Left hand half glazed door, C19, with flush
lower panels, central twin leaf doors, half glazed with lower
flush panel, C19. Central C18 wrought-iron bracket with
ornamental overthrow for hanging sign, top raised mid C20.
Tall carriageway to right with paired gates, formed after
1836, through north bay of No.24 adjoining (qv). Plastered
front above fascia and moulded cornice with C20 three-light
wood casement window.
2 storeyed gabled rear wing with attics added to east C17,
including a staircase. Large rear 2 storey offshoot, of yellow
brick with red dressings, a Welsh slated roof, irregularly
placed sash windows, and a central lantern light, was
constructed late C19 along the northern boundary to
accommodate an assembly room. Beyond is a range of C19
stables, one and 2 storeys, yellow brick with red rubbed
arches and a Welsh slate roof.
INTERIOR: opened out on ground floor, with exposed beams.
Large inglenook fireplace to right, C18, with bolection
moulded surround, restored 1988. 2 bay roof with tall square
section crown posts, with fore and aft bracing supporting the
collar purlin. Halved and pegged pairs of heavy section
rafters. Although bearing the name of one of the most historic
Ware inns, recorded in 1572, this is not the original site,
which was in Middle Row on the north of the High Street. No.24
Baldock Street became an inn C18, and is recorded in 1823.
However, the formation of the carriageway after 1836 enabled
the inn to expand around the rear yard.
(Heath C: The Book of Ware. A Portrait of the Town: Chesham:
1977-: 59-60; Hunt EM: The History of Ware: Hertford:
1986-1946: 97; The Buildings of England: Pevsner N (rev.
Cherry B): Hertfordshire: Harmondsworth: 1977-: 380; Smith JT:
Hertfordshire Houses. Selective Inventory: London: 1993-:
194-5; Perman D: Ware UD. List of buildings of special arch or
historic interest: 1993-: 11; Ware 25" to 1 Mile. Surveyed by
the Ordnance Survey Department: 1851-; Forrester H: Timber
Framed Buildings in Hertford and Ware: Hitchin: 1964-: 42;
Smith JT: English Houses 1200-1800. The Hertfordshire
Experience: London: 1992-: 144).
Listing NGR: TL3560614570
