The Black Horse

Summary

Hotel, now a public house, of 1898, by J A Seward of Preston for the Atlas Brewery Company of Manchester.

Reasons for Designation

The Black Horse Hotel of 1898 is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* a red brick exterior that makes the most of its prominent corner site with well-detailed principal ground-floor elevations;
* the original simple hotel plan-form, including principal staircase and upper floors, is largely retained with little significant alteration;
* the ground floor public house interior is largely intact and well-detailed, retaining for example etched glass, fixed seating, screens, good quality carved detail and Art Nouveau glass;
* the bar retains a high quality richly decorated interior, including a ceramic tiling scheme incorporating a ceramic fireplace, and a very rare example nationally of a tiled bar.

History

A public house known as the Black Horse has occupied this site on Friargate since at least the end of the C18. The present building was constructed as a small hotel in 1898 to designs of local architect J A Seward of Preston for Kay's Atlas Brewery Company of Manchester. It is one of only two public houses remaining from Atlas Brewery Company. The building is depicted and annotated P H (public house) on the second edition 1:2,500 Ordnance Survey (OS) map surveyed in 1909 and published in 1912. The footprint remains the same on subsequent OS map revisions down to the present day. Its function as a small hotel is probably the reason that the drinking areas are very well-appointed unlike other street corner locals which would have proliferated in the inner suburbs. When built there was a 'Market Room' at the rear for traders to gather. This was replaced in 1929 by the present U-shaped seating area and indoor ladies' and gents’ toilets at the rear to either side, accessed by separate narrow corridors. In about 1995 an archway was cut between the corridor and the public bar making it accessible to the rest of the pub, and the present bar back and associated equipment was installed at the same time.

The tiling scheme to the bar dates from around 1900. The website of The Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Society consider that the manufacturer of the bar front in cream, brown and yellow is unclear. Its design is not thought to resemble the contemporary designs of Burmantofts, Craven Dunhill or Doulton and Minton, although it could perhaps be attributed to Burmantofts on grounds of the colour scheme, but another possibility is the nearest faience manufacturer, Pilkington. However, an expert in Pilkington tiling schemes does not think this scheme can be attributed to Pilkington, and has suggested Campbell Tile Company or Shaws of Darwen as other possible manufacturers. The ceramic bar is one of only a handful of ceramic bar counters left in the country, including examples such as Burlingtons Bar at the Town House, St Annes on Sea and Polar Bear, Hull. Likewise, the ceramic fireplace is one of few examples of ceramic fireplaces of this style remaining.

Details

Hotel, now a public house, of 1898, by J A Seward of Preston for the Atlas Brewery Company of Manchester.

MATERIALS: red brick with sandstone dressings and slate roofs.

PLAN: a roughly rectangular main building occupying a prominent corner site with three separate entrances, and a rear range set at a slight angle.

EXTERIOR: the three-storey building has three windows to Friargate, a three-light canted corner and a wide single-bay return to Orchard Street. All elevations have a stone plinth, sill-bands and head-bands to all floors; a cornice and high stepped parapet is carried around all elevations. Windows are sashed without glazing bars and those to the ground and first floors have leaded glass upper parts, with stained glass to those on the ground floor. The Friargate elevation has an ornate central entrance comprising an elliptical-headed doorway with a moulded stone surround, a panelled door, and a two-light leaded glass overlight (altered to the left side). There are very large brackets with carved male and female figures carrying a balustraded balcony above. To either side is a two-light, stone mullioned window with leaded and stained glass. The Orchard Street elevation has a tripartite central doorway with side windows, four square, leaded glass overlights and a panelled door with integral leaded glass to the upper panel; it has a prominent cornice with a segmental pediment to the centre depicting a carving of a horse’s head. A pair of slightly projecting external chimney stacks rise from the cornice to either side, and break through, and extend above the parapet. The canted corner has an oriel window with a carved apron of garlands and swags wrapped round; the centre has raised lettering BLACK HORSE HOTEL. A plainer, rear range on Lowthian Street has four first floor windows, a moulded eaves cornice and stone lintels and sills. It contains a third entrance with brick pilasters and corbelled brick brackets supporting a stone cornice; the five-panel door (with a modern Black Horse sign in the upper panel) has a leaded glass overlight. There are low set, blocked cellar openings.

INTERIOR: the main Friargate entrance opens into a small vestibule with a moulded plaster cornice, half panelled walls and a mosaic floor inset with the words THE BLACK HORSE. The inner door is panelled with foliate and floral carved detailing and its glazed upper panel is deeply etched with BLACK HORSE. It has an elaborate timber surround with engaged balusters as jambs and an open pedimented top with a central cartouche. Above is a leaded glazed overlight with fluted pilaster sides. The vestibule opens into a mosaic-floored passage with a foliate and fruit border, leading to the rear of the pub. Either side of the corridor there is a smoke room, each entered through original doors with original copper door furniture. The right smoke room has a panelled and glazed door (number 2) with etched glass and the words BAR PARLOUR. It has a moulded plaster cornice and an inter-war tiled chimneypiece with timber and glazed overmantle, fixed seating around all sides and bell pushes. The left smoke room has an identical door (number 3) deeply etched with SMOKE ROOM. This has a pair of timber and glazed baffles, and is similarly fitted out, and has an identical chimney piece to the other smoke room.

The public bar originally accessed via the Orchard Street entrance, is now also entered through an arched inserted opening from the main corridor. It has a prominent ceramic semi-circular bar counter in cream and light green with bulging pilasters, decorative brackets and a wooden top. On the corridor side, the bar has a timber counter base with original vertical sliding decorative stained-glass panels above. Within the servery is a simple U-shaped bar back fitting with later additions such as fridges. The walls of the public bar have a tiled dado of light brown plain tiles, red and light blue decorative tiled panels and a brown, cream and blue ceramic row above. There is a ceramic fireplace in mainly brown with Fleur de Lys symbols in relief and a mirror in a wood surround above. The public bar also has a mosaic floor with scrolled and foliate borders, and a striking segmented, geometric plaster ceiling. A vestibule entrance opens into the bar from Orchard Street, and this also has a mosaic floor, a tiled dado as elsewhere, and the inner door and side panels have colourful stained and leaded glass panels and copper door furniture. To the rear of the public bar is a U-shaped seating area with fixed seating, above which the walls have bevelled mirrored glass and bell pushes, with leaded and stained glass above this and wooden panels to the ceiling. A door to either side leads into short corridors with the gents’ and ladies’ toilets to the rear. Both are tiled in white with more ornate tiles above a dado.

The first floor is accessed by an ornate open-string timber staircase, with a panelled soffit, moulded handrail and a particularly ornate vase-shaped newel post to the ground floor. The first-floor corridor has a moulded cornice and leads to the first-floor function room at the front of the building. This has mostly been refurbished, but retains moulded cornices and an inter-war timber chimneypiece with a decorative fender and a tiled hearth, and bell pushes. The staircase continues to the second floor and opens into a corridor with a moulded cornice; several former hotel rooms open from this corridor, all but one have original four-panel doors in moulded architraves. The former hotel rooms are generally plain with moulded window surrounds, and three retain small cast-iron chimney pieces, two with tiled hearths. A three-panel door in the rear of the staircase leads down to the cellar, the original part of which is vaulted.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

392021

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Hartwell, C, Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Lancashire North, (2009), 528
Brandwood, G, Davison, A, Slaughter, M, Licensed to Sell: The HIstory and Heritage of the Public House, (2011)

Websites
CAMRA Inventory entry, accessed 24-10-2021 from https://pubheritage.camra.org.uk/pubs/102
The Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Society Gazetteer: Lancashire, accessed 12-11-2021 from https://tilesoc.org.uk/tile-gazetteer/lancashire.html
Documentary research, accessed 16-11-2021 from http://pubsinpreston.blogspot.com/2012/01/black-horse-hotel-friargate.html

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