Reasons for Designation
The Cinque Port Arms is recommended for designation at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Although the front wall and roof structure of the western section were replaced in the early C20 the core of an early C17 building remains, retaining stone rubble, clunch and brick side walls, principal timbers, an open fireplace (with perhaps others surviving beneath later decoration) and C17 and C18 panelling.
* The western section retains much of the original plan form, a single unit in width of double pile type, separated by an axial chimneystack.
* A significant amount of original fabric remains, whether of masonry with galleting, clunch or Flemish brick and the main structural timbers below roof level.
* The method of construction of timberframed front, rear walls and partitions, relying on party walls for support, is unusual and rare for the South East.
* Decorative features include ovolo-moulded and chamfered beams, a plank and muntin screen, an open fireplace, a number of C18 or early C19 panelled or plank doors and some reset early-C18 fielded panelling.
* The building has added historic interest as the only remaining vernacular building of a settlement dating from the early-C17, which had numerous public houses to serve Dover Docks.
* Although the eastern part of the building, rebuilt c1900, is of lesser interest it is now an integral part of the building and included in the listing.
Details
DOVER
685/0/10027 CLARENCE PLACE
27-APR-10 Cinque Port Arms
GV II
Originally two separate public houses, later amalgamated. The western part is of early-C17 date, first refronted by the early-C19, then the south front and roof structure were replaced in the early-C20. The eastern part was rebuilt c1900 and is of lesser value. C20 extensions on the north side of the building are not of special interest.
MATERIALS: The western part has masonry, clunch and brick side walls but is timberframed between, and the south wall is rendered with applied timberframing over an early C20 brick bar front. The north and west sides are also rendered. There is a tiled roof and the top of the chimneystack has been replaced in C20 render. The eastern part is constructed of brown brick, rendered to the rear, with a green-glazed bar front and slate roof.
PLAN: The western part has a plan form of single unit width of double pile form, separated by an axial chimneystack. Originally the staircase was to the east of the chimneystack, and although replaced it is approximately in its original position. It is of two storeys, basement and attics and originally had two windows. The western side is of three storeys and cellar with bar on the ground floor, function room the whole width of the first floor front and a series of bedrooms behind and above.
EXTERIOR: The western part has a large central attic gable with C20 top opening casements and end casements. The first floor has three similar casements under the central gable and two end casements. The ground floor has an early-C20 wooden fascia over a brick bar front, which has a six-light casement window and end doorways. The west side has a rendered wall with no windows, as this formed a party wall with the demolished adjoining building. The north elevation retains two early-C19 12-pane sashes in moulded architraves to the ground floor. The first floor has two replacement sashes in earlier openings and the attic has two early-C20 sash windows with vertical glazing bars only. The eastern part south side has two 12-pane sashes to the second floor, the first floor has a pedimented tall central window with 15 panes and a balconette flanked by 12-pane sashes. The ground floor has two cambered-headed windows and a similar central doorcase converted into a window. The side elevation is also of red brick with a sash window. The rear elevation has a hipped projection with cambered 12-pane sash.
INTERIOR: The ground floor of the western part has a south and north room divided by an axial chimneystack. The west wall is constructed of random rubble, and the galleting shows that it was originally an external wall. The south room has an ovolo-moulded spine beam with barred and hollow stops. The open fireplace has a wooden bressumer, but the brickwork has been restored. The room's eastern wall was removed in the later C20, to provide a combined bar with the eastern part of the building. The north room is approached up a step and has early-C17 cross beams with cyma stops, and a massive open fireplace constructed of narrow brick in English bond with stretcher bond sides and a wooden bressumer with the marks of a spit mechanism. The bread oven has been removed. The cellar is divided into two rooms and retains three clunch walls. Beneath the floor paviours is the original shingle on which the structure was built. The original staircase was probably located to the east of the chimneystack but there is now a late-C19 staircase with baluster-shaped newel post with ball finial and stick balusters on the eastern side. The first floor comprises an eastern staircase corridor, a north room and two unequal-sized south rooms. The staircase corridor retains early C17 moulded ceiling beams and a painted plank and muntin sceen separating the corridor from the north room, with a plank door into the north room. The north room has chamfered ceiling beams, exposed wallplate and some reset early-C18 fielded panelling. No fireplace is visible, but the south wall of this room is wallpapered over. This wall also has an early-C19 half-glazed door with L-hinges. The large south-eastern room has two four-panelled doors with L-hinges and chamfered ceiling beamed wallplates and an ovolo-moulded beam. The fireplace appears to retain an C18 or early C19 moulded cornice. The present partition between the two rooms is located to one side of the original one, which retains mortice holes in the tie beams. The smaller south-western room has four wallplates visible, and an ovolo-moulded central beam supported on a wooden bracket. The attic floor and roof structrue were replaced in the early-C20.
The eastern part of the building has a ground floor bar linked with the south room of the western section. The cellar has C19 English bond brick walls. A separate c1900 staircase, with moulded newelposts with ball finials and slender balusters, leads to the upper floors. The first floor has a full-width south function room.
HISTORY: Cinque Port Arms currently comprises two formerly separate adjoining public houses on the west side of Clarence Place, the Cinque Port Arms (9 Clarence Place) and the Rose and Crown (formerly 8 Clarence Place). They comprise the only remaining buildings of a docklands area known as The Pier District, partly residential but with numerous public houses to serve Dover Docks. Throughout the C16 the area on which the Cinque Port Arms is built was an area of shingle extending along the northern edge of a sea defence called "Crosswall", which had only a few small buildings shown on a 1595 plan. A building is reported to be shown on this site on a Harbour Board map of 1624, which either represents the present structure or its predecessor. The western part of the Cinque Port Arms is of early-C17 date but incorporates to the west the masonry wall of an earlier building, latterly the King's Head Hotel, which has been demolished. By the early C19 the western part of the building was in use as a public house called the Coach and Horses, but by 1878 the inn sign had changed to the Cinque Port Arms. On the 1866, 1898 and 1907 Ordnance Survey maps the current building is shown as two separate public houses, situated in densely packed streets of houses and public houses. On these maps a railway line is shown passing to the north of the building on the way to the Ferry Docks.
The south side of the building is shown in a number of late-C19 and early-C20 photographs. In late C19 photographs, both public houses had been refronted in render and were of two storeys with a cellar and an attic in the mansard roof. The Cinque Port Arms has the top of a C17 chimneystack visible above the roofline, a hipped dormer to the attic, two irregularly-spaced mid-C19 sash windows to the first floor and a pilastered door surround, and C19 bar front to the ground floor. The Rose and Crown is partially obscured in the photograph but two dormers are visible to the attic storey. Circa 1900 the Rose and Crown PH was completely re-constructed to become three storeys over a cellar. In the early to mid-C20, the roof of the Cinque Port Arms was rebuilt with a flat top, a large central gable was added on the south side and the fenestration adjusted to accommodate this, and the whole of the south front had timberframing applied and a new bar front added. In the 1950s the northern part of The Pier District was cleared, and in 1968 an order was issued for stopping up part of Clarence Place together with adjoining streets. At this time The King's Head Hotel (10 Clarence Place) which abutted on the west side was demolished leaving only its east party wall standing. In 1975 further properties were demolished. The Rose and Crown PH closed to business in the 1980s and, after standing empty for a while, the two public houses were amalgamated under the name Cinque Port Arms. In 1995, train ferries ceased sailing from the port.
SOURCES:
David and Barbara Martin "An Archaeological Interpretative Survey of Cinque Port Arms, 9 Clarence Place, Dover , Kent. Project Ref 3395." 2008.
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION
The Cinque Port Arms is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Although the front wall and roof structure of the western section were replaced in the early C20 the core of an early C17 building remains, retaining stone rubble, clunch and brick side walls, principal timbers, an open fireplace (with perhaps others surviving beneath later decoration) and C17 and C18 panelling.
* The western section retains much of the original plan form, a single unit wide of double pile plan, separated by an axial chimneystack.
* A significant amount of original fabric remains, whether of masonry with galleting, clunch or Flemish brick and the main structural timbers below roof level.
* The method of construction of timber-framed front, rear wall and partitions relying on party walls for support is unusual and rare for the South East.
* Decorative features include ovolo-moulded and chamfered beams, a plank and muntin screen, an open fireplace, a number of C18 or early-C19 panelled or plank doors and some reset early-C18 fielded panelling.
* The building has added value as the only remaining vernacular building of a settlement dating from the early C17 which had numerous public houses to serve Dover Docks.
* Although the eastern part of the building, rebuilt c1900, is of lesser value it is now an integral part of the building.
