Earl de Grey Public House

Summary

Public house, probably early-mid C19 with later alterations. Rendered brick with faience ground floor of circa 1913, slate roof. Three-storeys

Reasons for Designation

The Earl de Grey Public House is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* it is a good example of a C19 pub altered in the early C20 through the addition of an elaborate faience shopfront;

Historic interest:

* it is one of only a few early buildings left remaining on the western half of Castle Street, one of the oldest routes out of Hull, and is an important physical reminder of dock life in this part of the town.

History

The Earl De Grey Public House (originally known as the Junction Dock Tavern) is believed to have been constructed in the early-mid C19 as part of a block comprising 6, 7 and 8 Castle Street. No public houses are recorded on Castle Street in Baines' 1822 directory and Junction Dock (later renamed as Prince's Dock) was opened in 1829. Junction Dock Tavern, 6 and 7 Castle Street, is recorded in White's Yorkshire Directory of 1831 with a Joseph Wheatley listed as proprietor.

It has been suggested that 6 Castle Street may not have originally formed part of the pub, but trade directories appear to confirm the pub's address as being correct and that it originally started life at 6 and 7. By 1864 the pub had expanded to incorporate 8 Castle Street (formerly a coffee house) and internal alterations were carried out, and by 1888-90 when the 1:500 town plan was published 6 no longer formed part of the pub. The pub is now collectively known as 7 Castle Street.

The pub was re-named in 1863/4 after George Frederick Samuel Robinson (1827-1909), 1st Marquess of Ripon and Viscount Goderich, who had been elected as an MP in Hull in 1852, but was later unseated for electoral offences. He was appointed the honorific position of the High Steward of Hull in 1863, by which time he had inherited the title of Earl de Grey, becoming known as Earl de Grey and Ripon.

In 1913 internal alterations, including a new full-width curving bar counter and new sanitary arrangements, were carried out by the architects Samuel Jackson and Sons of Bradford for the then owners Bentley's Yorkshire Brewery Company of Leeds. It is also likely that the faience ground floor was added at this time. Further alterations were carried out for Bentleys in 1953 by Wheatley and Holdsworth architects, including a new smaller bar counter at the eastern end of the front room, which replaced the 1913 counter.

The majority of 6 Castle Street was demolished in 1988 and a large two-storey extension to the pub was subsequently built on the rear section of its plot in 2003, with a small courtyard formed at the front. Internal alterations were also carried out at this time. The pub closed in 2010 and is now (2017) disused.

Castle Street (originally known as Mytongate) formed one of the principal routes out of the old town and is believed to have been re-named in the early C19 after George Castle, a builder in Hull. The street was widened in the 1970s and is now a dual carriageway. All the early buildings along the street west of Prince's Dock Street, except for the Earl de Grey Public House, Castle Buildings, and a warehouse at the south-east corner of Prince's Dock, have been demolished and replaced by modern development and car parking.

Details

Public house, probably early-mid C19 with later alterations. Rendered brick with faience ground floor of circa 1913, slate roof. Three-storeys

PLAN: the pub's principal elevation faces on to Castle Street: the former Number 8 forms the two bays to the left, whilst the former Number 7 forms the two bays to the right. A heavily altered rear range and a 2003 extension that occupies the site of the former Number 6 are excluded from the listing.

EXTERIOR: although obscured by a modern security hoarding at the time of writing, the four-bay principal front (south) elevation facing Castle Street has a green faience ground floor with a moulded plinth and cornice, and a panelled stall riser. The bays are divided on the ground floor by Ionic pilasters set upon pedestals, with plain consoles above the capitals that support the cornice. The main entrance is set to the left of centre and consists of a panelled door with a surround that rises up to a swan-necked pediment incorporating a coat of arms and a festoon. Flanking the doorway are wide two-light windows with segment-headed lights, later vertical glazing bars, and plain modern glazing. An additional narrower doorway with a four-panel door, overlight and flanking pilasters exists to the far right of the ground floor. Above the windows and the secondary entrance are cream-coloured signage fascias; those above the windows have green faience relief lettering reading 'Earl de Grey', whilst that above the doorway is plain. Replaced two-over-two sash windows (boarded over externally) with moulded surrounds exist to the upper floors, along with a sill band to the second floor, and a dentilled eaves, all of which are painted black. Rising from the western end of the roof is a substantial chimneystack. Following the demolition of Number 6 in 1988 short brick buttresses have been added to support the pub's now-external east wall.

The pub's ground-floor faience continues around and across half of the left (west) gable-end return with two windows divided by a pilaster. The signage fascia panels above are plain. The left (northern) half of the gable end has window and ventilation openings of varying size.

A two-storey rear range, which has been subject to a sequence of substantial alterations and rebuilding, and a 2003 extension on the site of the former Number 6 are not of special interest and are excluded from the listing.

INTERIOR: the interior, which has been heavily altered throughout and contains no features of historic interest, is not of special interest and is excluded from the listing.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

387484

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Other
'The Earl de Grey. A brief history'. Compiled by R G Hayton at the Local History Unit, Hull College of Further Education, Park Street, Hull. Undated
Architectural History Practice. November 2013. 'Historic Building and Historic Townscape Appraisal. A63 Castle Street Improvements, Hull'.

End of official list entry

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