The Chequers Inn

Summary

Inn constructed in the late C16 or early C17, extended in the C17 and C19. Further minor alterations and additions were made in the C20 and C21.

History

The town of Leominster traces its origins to the establishment of a religious house there during the C7 or earlier. The Saxon settlement endured repeated Viking raids and is recorded as a sizeable town in the Domesday Book (1086), with 27 households. In the early C12, King Henry I established a Benedictine Priory in the town and granted a foundation charter for the town’s market. The town thrived throughout the later medieval period, despite periodic unrest due to its location in the border region. Leominster wool was prized across Europe and bestowed considerable wealth upon the town. The town centre retains many medieval and early modern buildings; secular buildings are timber framed while surviving Priory buildings are constructed of local sandstone. The town centre retains an essentially medieval street pattern, with long, narrow burgage plots fronting the north-south spine road of Broad Street-High Street-South Street, and Corn Square (the historic marketplace) lying to the east of the High Street. The remains of the Priory, dissolved in 1539, lie to the north-east of the town centre. The town remained a prominent local centre into the C18 and C19. During this period, many timber-framed buildings were replaced (or refronted) by brick buildings with Classical elevations. Many houses in the town centre were partially converted to commercial use and equipped with shopfronts during the later C19 and C20.

The Chequers Inn was constructed in the late C16 or early C17. It may have been built as a house or an inn, it has been trading as the Chequers Inn or Public House since at least 1843. A timber-framed rear wing was added to the north in the C17, which contains original moulded timber finishes internally. By the 1870s, further brick-built extensions had been added to the north. Also by this time, the front (south) elevation had been roughcast rendered and timber casement windows had been inserted on each floor. The building was further altered in the late C19 or early C20 when the roughcast was removed to reveal the timber frame underneath, and a brick outshut was added to the Etnam Street elevation. During the mid-C20, the building adjoining to the west was demolished, leaving the west gable end wall of the inn exposed. Sometime after 2003, a single-storey, brick and timber extension was added to the west elevation and a low brick boundary wall was built across the entrance to the garden area to the west of the inn.

Details

Inn constructed in the late C16 or early C17, extended in the C17 and C19. Further minor alterations and additions were made in the C20 and C21.

MATERIALS: the principal, south range and adjoining north wing are of timber-framed construction with plaster infill. The C19 extensions to the north, and the C20 and C21 extensions to the west and south elevations, are of painted brick. The roof covering is plain tile throughout, except for the outshut to the south elevation which is roofed in slate.

PLAN: the building has an L-shaped plan, with the oldest range to the south fronting Etnam Street and a series of later additions extending far back to the north along the eastern plot boundary. Immediately to the north of the southernmost wing is a C17 cross wing, beyond which are further C19 and C20 additions.

EXTERIOR: the principal, south range is of two storeys plus attic across four bays. The roof form comprises a pitched element with cross wing gable facing Etnam Street, with a hipped element over the later, C17 range to the north. The C19, brick outshut to the ground floor comprises an off-centre entrance within a canted recess flanked by a pair of bay windows and a recessed plank door in the westernmost bay. The main entrance comprises a half-glazed door within a plain surround. The two bay windows each contain a timber sash window with two-over-two glazing and horns with rendered cills to their south face and a two-pane sash with horns and rendered cills to their canted faces. The roof of the outshut carries a low balustrade of ornate C20 ironwork carrying the word ‘CHEQUERS’ in an arch over the doorway. The first floor and jettied gable have exposed timber framing painted black and white. The first floor has irregular framing with a curved brace to the west and carries two C20 timber casements. The gable has close studding, a stop-moulded bressumer and possibly original, moulded and enriched bargeboards with central pendant. The end frame is exposed on the west gable, with square-panelled framing. A tall, C20, brick chimney stack rises from the north slope of the front range.

Running north from the original south range is a C17 cross wing, which is slightly taller than the south range but still of two storeys plus attic, under a hipped roof. The west and north elevations have exposed, square-panelled, timber framing. The north elevation carries a ten-over-ten glazed, timber sash window on the first floor and a three-by-three timber casement in the attic. Adjoining the west elevation of the C17 cross wing and the adjoining C19 extension is a single-storey, half-timbered conservatory with a lean-to roof, built in the C21.

To the north are a pair of two-storey C19 extensions under pitched roofs with ranges of timber casement windows. The northernmost extension has a single-storey outshut to the north under a plain-tiled, catslide roof. To the north again are a pair of C20, single-storey outbuildings, one constructed of concrete block with a flat roof and the other constructed of brick with a pitched, plain-tiled roof.

INTERIOR: The interior is understood to contain moulded ceiling beams and a panelled cupboard door with cock’s head ironwork hinges. The staircase is understood to retain an original newel with an ornamental terminal.

Listing NGR: SO4986458949

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

459698

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Brooks, A, Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Herefordshire, (2012), 442-443, 460.

Other
OS Map 25” (1885 edn), Herefordshire XII.15.
OS Map 25” (1927 edn) Herefordshire XII.15.
An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Herefordshire, Vol 3: North West (1934), pp.121 and 124.
Hereford Times(30December 1843),p.3.
Photograph of The Chequers Inn in around 1880, accessed 14 January 2022 athttps://leominster1941.tumblr.com/post/60926219415/leominster-timeline-663ad-1899ad-monastery

End of official list entry

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