Summary
A coaching or carrier’s inn, likely of late C18 date with C19, C20 and C21 alterations and extensions.
Reasons for Designation
The White Lion and attached stable block is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* the building survives well as a good example of a late-C18 structure with good quality detailing and attached outbuildings;
* surviving internal features and layout contribute to the overall interest.
Historic interest:
* the building has good interest as an example of a late-C18 coaching inn with its associated features.
History
The improvement in road communications in the C18 stimulated the establishment of numerous coaching and carriers’ inns which were used as a base for transporting passengers, goods and materials. The White Lion is suggested to have been used as a carriers’ inn from around 1798, during a period of investment in Buxton as a flourishing spa town. In the mid-C19 it was known as the White Lion Inn and had stables and a coach house. It was owned by William Lees, who also ran the George Hotel in The Square (Grade II, National Heritage List Entry 1259275), and several coaches a week ran to and from the inn to the surrounding towns and cities. Its location to the south of Tideswell Lane, which later became Spring Gardens, with a large yard to the front would have been advantageous for this use. By the end of the C19, a terrace of buildings had been constructed within the yard to the north of the inn, separating it from Spring Gardens.
The building may have initially been much smaller than it appears today, with some suggestion that it may have formed part of a C17 small holding. It appears likely that over time it was extended to the west with an adjoining range, a parallel range added to the rear, and the roof height raised. In the late C19 it appears to have had a central entrance door at ground floor level which was later relocated to the righthand side. By the early C20 the inn was known as the White Lion Hotel and was advertised as having accommodation for visitors and cyclists, with a ‘splendid billiard saloon and good stabling’. The adjoining building on the west end was originally a dwelling house in separate occupancy but during the C20 the Inn appears to have expanded to include this part. It was run as a pub by Marston’s brewery before it closed in 2011 and was most recently (2021) used as an artisan market.
Details
A coaching or carrier’s inn, likely of late C18 date with C19, C20 and C21 alterations and extensions.
MATERIALS: the building is constructed of dressed millstone grit with painted ashlar dressings and Welsh slate roofs with brick and stone stacks.
PLAN: the three interconnecting sections of the building are aligned east to west, one room wide on each floor. The west and central sections are two rooms deep on each floor while the east section is slightly shallower, with subdivision only to the second floor. There is an attic storey to the central section. Two ranges extend south from the rear of the building, the ground floor of the eastern range being set below ground level with an inserted mezzanine floor.
DESCRIPTON: exterior: the principal façade of the building faces north and appears as a row of three adjoining terraced properties. The east section of this row is constructed of stone with ashlar dressings and is set over three storeys, with symmetrical pairs of horned sash windows to the first and second floors. The main entrance door is offset to the right and both this and the ground floor windows have quoined surrounds. The building is delineated by two flanking chimneys stacks and painted, rusticated quoins. The adjoining section appears to be an extension to this building, of the same height and stone. This section features individual and paired windows sharing wedged lintels arranged over four floors. The door to this section is also offset and has a bracketed hood. The west end of the terrace is set down in height from the other two sections. Its façade is rendered and it has a canted oriel window at first floor level.
The building appears to have been extended to the south with a parallel range, creating a double pile roof. To the east elevation is a band of smooth, partially painted stone and above this, a change in stone coursing to the two gables suggests that the roof level might have been raised. The adjoining single storey wing of four bays features leaded, stained glass windows with horned sashes to its east elevation. The rear elevation has a stepped roof line and an irregular arrangement of windows in a mixture of casements, sashes and fixed window styles, including one with marginal glazing to the rear of the east section. To the west side of the rear elevation there is a further range of single-storey, stone outbuildings with pitched, slate roofs, which possibly includes the former stable block. The southernmost part of this range features pairs of side hung doors with strap hinges.
INTERIOR: the principal entrance leads into the lower ground floor of the east range containing a central pillar. Further rooms on this floor contain timber supporting posts with a concrete floor throughout. There is a winder staircase to the rear of the central section of the building with turned balusters and a decorative outer string. To the first and second floor many of the interior fixtures, fittings and wall finishes have been removed. Three fireplaces remain in place, possibly of C19 origin, including one with a tiled surround. Some moulded door architraves and panelled doors also remain.
