The Harrow Inn

Summary

Roadside inn of around the C18, possibly incorporating C17 fabric, enlarged in the C19/20.

Reasons for Designation

The Harrow Inn, Steep, a roadside inn of around the C18, possibly incorporating C17 fabric and enlarged in the C19/20, is listed at Grade II for the following reasons:
 
Architectural interest:
 
*   for the C18 or earlier fabric, including a partially surviving timber-frame, smoke hood, inglenook and spine beams with run out stops;
 
*   for the linear sequence of added mid-C19 rooms and the rare survival of their distinctive bar hatches and timber panelled bar rooms;
 
*   for the neatly-detailed and integrated mid-C19 additions, with features including multi-pane casement windows, tile-hung elevations and a timber verandah.
 
Historic interest:
 
*   the inn is a particularly well-preserved example of the way in which many modest single room public houses were extended to serve as licensed houses following the 1830 Beer Act;
 
*  the inn stands on an historic droving route and its location along with a detached toilet block to the other side of the path gives a tangible sense of how such rural public houses would have operated in the mid-C19.

History

The Harrow Inn probably dates from the mid-C18, and may incorporate C17 fabric, as Whiteman (see sources) suggests that its timber frame design is similar to a number of local farms rebuilt between 1580 and 1620. The timber frame is visible to the rear and may survive elsewhere under hung tile cladding. The rubble stone and brick plinth may have replaced a lower section of timber framing.
 
The inn stands strategically at the meeting of six roads, including two known routes for cattle drovers headed for Alton or the Farnham Corn Market, which in the middle of the C18, was one the largest in the South of England (see sources). Parish vestry records refer to 'ye Harrow' from 1744 and land tax returns, record occupancy of the Harrow back to around 1800. 
 
The Tithe map of 1840 identifies the owner as Robert Parsons and John Bonney as the occupier. Up until the mid-C19 the inn itself would have had a single bar room where customers would sit and be served from a tap.
 
By 1869, the 1:2,500 Ordnance Survey (OS) map, shows the building extended to the east, which probably included the enlargement of the original bar room and the addition of another interconnected bar room. A detached toilet block is also shown, further to the south. The 1909 edition shows small projections to the south and north of the inn which were probably porches, as they correspond with surviving doorways.
 
By 1932, mapping identifies an outshut to the rear. This was built to accommodate a bar counter, bar back and stillage for both bar rooms. Signage on the external bar doors record their use as the public bar (earlier bar room) and the smoking room (C19 extension). The inn was purchased by Arthur Dodd in 1932. His family (the McCutcheons) continue to run the inn (as of 2022) with little change, winning The Good Pub Guide Award four times between 1996 and 2018, as ‘most unspoilt pub of the year'.

Details

Roadside inn of around the C18, possibly incorporating C17 fabric, enlarged in the C19 and C20. 
 
MATERIALS: the C18 phase has timber framing with brick infill, hung tiles, and a rubble stone ground floor to the two-storey section. The C19/C20 extensions have rubble stone or brick to the ground floor and hung tiles to the first floor. The roof is covered with clay tiles.
 
PLAN: the building is located on a site which rises from east to west. It has a linear plan, with the principal elevation facing south. The C18 phase is to the left-hand side (west) and C19 phase to the right (east). Internally there are bars and kitchens on the ground floor with accommodation above.
 
EXTERIOR: the principal elevation consists of a C18 single storey range with cellar below. It is clad in hung tiles and has a raised, planked door above a brick plinth with steps to both sides. There are multi-pane casement windows to either side (nine panes to the left and 12 panes to the right), and at cellar level, there is a smaller, three-pane casement window, the frame of which has diamond mullions. The two-storey addition to the right (east) has a rubble stone ground floor and hung tile cladding to the first floor. It has a casement window (eight pane and nine pane) to either side of a timber planked door (signed public bar), which is surmounted by a pantile-covered hood on timber brackets. On the first floor there is a 12-pane casement window. The C19 phase extends further to the right and is similar in form and materials. To the ground floor it has a timber planked door (signed smoking room), which is fronted by a timber veranda with a plain balustrade attached to posts with curved supports, under a clay-tiled lean-to roof. There are two, 12-pane casements to the first floor. The roof is gabled to the west and hipped to the east end. It has four, irregular chimneys which appear to have been rebuilt or added in the C19.
 
The west elevation of the C18 phase is single storey with a timber-planked door and is clad in hung tile. The rear elevation has an exposed timber frame to the upper part of the wall, which has a two-pane casement window. The frame has corner posts, a mid-rail and a wall plate, supporting small box framing infilled with brick; beneath is a rubble stone and brick wall. To the centre of the rear elevation there is a C20 brick-built outshut with a functional door, under a clay-tiled roof. The outshut continues further east with a lower pitch to the roof and has two, eight-pane casements. This exposes the hung tile of the first floor, which has a single, six-pane casement window. The C19 east end elevation is clad in hung tile above a brick ground floor, which has a multi-pane and canted bay window.
 
INTERIOR: the ground floor rooms are interconnected in a linear fashion by doorways on the south side (sealed up), and both bar rooms have external doorways to the south side. The first floor is accessed by a stair rising from the kitchen within the C18 phase.
 
Within the C18 phase, the cellar has a floor frame of roughly hewn joists supported by a hefty, chamfered spine beam. The rear wall has a pantry shelf and the east wall has a former fireplace opening, beneath a plastered smoke hood. The floor is covered with terracotta quarry tiles inset with a strip of grey brick pavers. The kitchen room has a chamfered spine beam with run out stops. The stairs are straight and rise between match boarded walls.

The C18 bar room has a floor frame of square-cut and chamfered joists. The walls are clad in matchboard and have a dado rail. The early C20 bar hatch has a half-height, planked door beneath a lifting counter. To the left-hand side, there is a small fixed counter with a glazed folding screen. To either side there are ledge and brace shutters and underneath to the left-hand side, there is raised and fielded panelling. There is a large inglenook fireplace with a timber bressumer. The fireplace is built of narrow bricks and contains a cast-iron grate and inset bread oven. The floor is covered with alternating black and terracotta quarry tiling.
 
To the rear of the bars, there is a C20 bar back with stillage. To the east end there is a vestibule with an internal ledge and brace door and an external stable door. The outshut is also connected to the C19 bar room by a doorway with half-height panelled door and a small fixed counter. There are steps down into the C19 bar room which is timber panelled to dado level and has two, machine-cut spine beams. The north wall of the bar room has a timber fireplace with a cast-iron insert, decorated with yellow tiles.
 
SUBSIDIARY FEATURE: across the road to the south, there is a symmetrical toilet block which faces north. It is entered from opposing ends for privacy and also has a central entrance with a solid panelled door. To each side there are 12-pane casements windows on timber cills. The walls are constructed of brown brick in a Flemish bond. The roof is hipped to both ends and is clay tiled. It has a brick chimney stack to the left-hand hip. The fixtures and fittings are C20.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

141424

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Defoe, D, A Tour Through The Whole Island Of Great Britain, (1986), 155
Brandwood, G, Davison, A, Slaughter, M, Licensed to Sell: The HIstory and Heritage of the Public House, (2011), .
Whiteman, W, The reputed manor of Ashford (Petersfield papers), (1987), 23

Websites
History of Steep, accessed 2/12/2021 from https://historyofsteep.co.uk/portfolio/the-harrow-inn-steep/

Other
Tithe Map of 1840-1, held in the West Sussex Records Office.

End of official list entry

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