Reasons for Designation
The Hollybush Inn, Seighford, Staffordshire, a C17 public house with later additions, is recommended for designation at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural: a good example of a C17 timber-framed building which shows clear evidence of its history in its fabric and construction, and reflects the vernacular traditions of the area.
* Historical: the house may well have always served as a hostelry and is an early example of a roadside beerhouse.
* Intactness: the evolution of the building has led to a deal of alteration to its plan form, and yet it remains substantially intact as a C17 historic structure. Its historic plan remains legible.
Details
SEIGHFORD
603/0/10061 MAIN ROAD
28-MAY-10 The Hollybush Inn
II
A C17 box-frame cottage and beerhouse from at least the C19, with later modifications and additions.
MATERIALS: The oak wall structure has handmade red brick nogging panels. The roof structure is oak. Internal partition walls are oak framed with lathe and plaster infill. Some parts have been rebuilt in red brick. The roofs are covered in clay tile.
PLAN: A two-bay, single-depth range on a roughly east-west alignment with doors to the centre and left of the road (south) front. A length of central partition wall survives to the ground floor. A winder stair adjacent to the inglenook at the east end leads to an attic floor which is subdivided centrally by a plaster-infilled roof truss. The west attic room is subdivided further to form a bathroom in the south-west corner. To the front (north) is an addition of circa 1840. The late-C20 extensions to the rear and west gable end are not of special interest.
EXTERIOR: The road (north) front presents a largely intact, oak small-frame with door to the left, the architrave partly cut away to reveal a dated oak lintel reading '16.T A.75'. To the right a wide window opening has been inserted with circa 1900 brick infill below. Other infill panels are C17/ C18 brick nogging. Two passing braces are visible below the eaves. The right half of the road front is mainly obscured by the 1840 extension, which has a door and window facing east and two C20 openings facing the road. The west pitch of the clay tile roof to this range is a cat slide. The west gable wall is obscured at ground floor level by a late-C20 kitchen and dining room extension. The gable end shows an exposed truss with large purlins breaking through. The upper parts of the truss have been cut away for a later chimney. There is a modified C18 or C19 window opening to the left under a cambered brick head and a later opening to the right. The east gable wall is a circa 1900 brick replacement. The south elevation has wide inserted openings providing access to the large late-C20 range that is of no special interest. There is a C20 dormer window on each principal roofslope.
INTERIOR: The main bar area is entered from the south through widened openings. The remaining sections of the south wall have some embedded, floating timbers and C17 corner post. A late-C20 servery stands to the left of the main bar area, which is centrally divided by a modified C17 oak-framed partition wall. The wall posts have consistent hacking across them on their east face, which would have formerly provided a key for a lime plaster finish. At the east end (right) is a modified inglenook with bressumer. To the left of the inglenook, a sealed doorway leads to the front door with dated lintel. To the right is a timber winder stair leading to the attic floor. Two substantial, deeply chamfered and stopped C17 spine beams span the ground floor with substantial bowed joists. The north wall has a substantial bowed beam above the inserted window opening, a C17 mid-rail. The beam runs above the central doorway to the left, which now leads into the 1840 range, and as two iron pintles in the left jamb. To the left of the doorway is a cellar door and stone steps below. The cellar entrance is enclosed by a partition wall, possibly C17, behind which is a serving hatch from the servery into the 1840 range. The hatch is formed by the removal of two infill panels in the former exterior wall. Other panels, visible from within the 1840 range have exposed brick nogging and intact framing with an additional pintle in the post by the hatch.
To the first floor, the stairs open directly into an east bedroom with substantial purlins. A C17 roof truss divides the room from a west bedroom and bathroom, and is infilled with thick horse hair plaster with lathes. Below modern coverings are possible C17 floorboards. There is a short section of ovolo-moulded skirting board. The west rooms have pegged purlins concurrently aligned to the east bedroom, and of similar scantling. The west bedroom has a covered C18 fireplace. Above, the roof timbers are C17 except for C20 rafters. A late-C19/early-C20 chimney has been inserted through the west truss. There is a substantial ridge beam.
SUBSIDIARY FEATURE: Against the north-east corner of the 1840 range stands a C19 water pump with cast iron handle.
HISTORY: The Hollybush Inn was built in 1675, probably as a dwelling, but possibly originally serving as a house incorporating a beerhouse. Early beerhouses were generally simple domestic dwellings with an area set aside for customers to sit or stand, and be served with beer or ale kept elsewhere in the building. A drinking establishment, or possibly an inn, would have suited the building's location, on the western approach road into Seighford from the nearest major town, Stafford.
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION
The Hollybush Inn, Seighford, Staffordshire, a C17 public house with later additions, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural: A good example of a C17 timber-framed building which shows clear evidence of its history in its fabric and construction, and reflects the vernacular traditions of the area.
* Historical: The house may well have always served as a hostelry and is an early example of a roadside beerhouse.
* Intactness: The evolution of the building has led to a deal of alteration to its plan form, and yet it remains substantially intact as a C17 historic structure. Its historic plan remains legible.
SOURCES
Records from Stafford Record Office:
Tithe Map, 1847
Retrieved 19/05/2010
