The Craven Arms

Summary

A C19 public house, remodelled between 1906 and 1910, with the addition of an ornate ceramic façade, attributed to local architect Arthur Edwards for Holders Brewery.

Reasons for Designation

The Craven Arms, a C19 public house remodelled between 1906 and 1910 for Holders Brewery and attributed to local architect Arthur Edwards, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural Interest:

* for its bold exterior which incorporates an exemplary scheme of architectural ceramics, featuring ornate capitals and textured tilework, along with high-quality etched and stained glass windows;
* for the remarkable survival of the elegant Holders Brewery signage moulded into the friezes and cartouches, which speaks to the brewery’s pride and ambition for their tied premises.

Historic Interest:

* as a public house built to serve the working population of the area, it remains evocative of the C19 development of Birmingham’s industrial suburbs.

History

Industrial areas developed on the rural fringes of Birmingham in the early C19, and the construction of new factories and workers’ houses led to the establishment of public houses which served the local working communities. A pub existed on the corner of Upper Gough Street and Blucher Street near Holloway Head since at least the 1840s, when the first licensee of the Craven Arms was recorded. In 1895 the lease and freehold of the Craven Arms, and several of the adjoining properties, was acquired by Holders Brewery, a company established by Henry Holder and run by his son John Charles Holder from 1875. The company expanded in the late C19 and by the early C20 operated a large estate of tied pubs around Birmingham and the West Midlands which exclusively sold Holders Ales.

In 1906 Holders commissioned local architect and surveyor, Arthur Edwards, to remodel the Craven Arms. Edwards had designed industrial schools in Harborne and Aston in the early C20 and went on to design the Granville Inn on Corporation Street for Mitchells and Butlers Ltd in 1923. His initial plans for the Craven Arms do not appear to have been implemented and new designs were approved in 1910. The Craven Arms appears to have been substantially rebuilt, with a remodelled plan incorporating the adjoining greengrocer on Upper Gough Street into an enlarged drinking area subdivided into separate rooms. The ground floor was given a colourful glazed ceramic façade in blue and gold embellished with the Holder’s branding. This incorporated a new shop front on Blucher Street to the ground floor of the adjoining house.

In 1919, Mitchells and Butlers acquired Holders Brewery and took on their tied pubs, including the Craven Arms. The facias of the pub were temporarily covered with Mitchells and Butlers signage, though the Holder’s branding survived underneath. By the 1970s most of the workers houses surrounding the Craven Arms had been demolished. The two adjoining properties on Blucher Street, including the ground floor shop survived until at least 1971, after which time they were also demolished. The Craven Arms was extensively refurbished in 2004 when the interior was altered to create a single large eating and drinking area. It was refurbished again in 2013 when it was taken on by Black Country Ales.

Details

A C19 public house, remodelled between 1906 and 1910, with the addition of an ornate ceramic façade, attributed to local architect Arthur Edwards for Holders Brewery.

MATERIALS: the ground floor of the building is faced with moulded and glazed ceramic tiles while the upper floors are of red brick. Brown brick at the edges of both frontages indicates where the pub was formerly keyed into buildings on either side. The windows are timber framed.

PLAN: the building occupies a corner plot with frontages to Blucher Street and Gough Street. The building has a roughly L-shaped plan which includes a single storey range projecting to the north.

EXTERIOR: the building is set over three storeys plus a cellar. An ornate glazed ceramic façade wraps around the south and east sides of the ground floor. It features a moulded plinth and a deep overhanging cornice above a dentil course in dark blue glaze. This surmounts a gold tiled facia featuring the Holders name and branding with blue relief lettering announcing ‘Holders Ales & Stout’ to both elevations. The south-east corner facia bears the name of the Craven Arms. Both frontages are punctuated by tiled pilasters topped with scrolled capitals and consoles. The square and rectangular tiles around windows and doorways are colour-washed in varying tones of blue. The stallrisers feature panels of ornately embossed tiles.

The principal entrance is set into the south-east corner and features a pair of part-glazed doors with etched glass and a leaded top light. A decorative ceramic cartouche with a scrolled pediment is set into the corner brickwork above the doorway. It features the name of the Craven Arms above a plaque containing the Holders branding. There is a similar cartouche to the first floor of the south elevation.

The ground floor of the south elevation features three large rectangular windows separated by two further part-glazed doors with blocked top lights. Each of the windows features decorative etched glass bearing the name of the Craven Arms, with three leaded, stained glass top lights above. Below the central window is a pair of planked doors to the cellar. The first and second floors above each feature three casement windows with top lights divided into smaller panes set with bullseye glass. The first-floor windows have three top lights and projecting moulded lintels, while those above feature two top lights and flush lintels. The east elevation follows the same style, featuring two more windows to the ground floor, and individual windows on the first and second floors.

The north elevation is rendered where the adjoining building was demolished, with the end of the ground floor projecting slightly. The first-floor features sash windows with glazing bars above a single-storey, windowless brick range.

INTERIOR: the interior largely reflects late C20 and early C21 remodelling. Entrances lead into an open plan bar area which features a mirror backed bar with column supports, timber partitions and a tiled fireplace. A dentil cornice continues to the first-floor function room, where partition walls and fireplaces appear to have been removed. Cornicing and a ceiling rose are present in the principal living room. The brick cellar is vaulted.

Sources

Books and journals
Foster, A, Pevsner, N, Wedgwood, A, The Buildings of England: Birmingham and the Black Country, (2022), p210

Websites
Brewery History Society: Holder’s Brewery, accessed 21 November 2023 from http://breweryhistory.com/wiki/index.php?title=Holder%27s_Brewery_Ltd,
Birmingham Live, ‘Memorabilia wanted to decorate historic Birmingham pub the Craven Arms’, accessed 21 November 2023. from https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/memorabilia-wanted-decorate-historic-birmingham-1342783

Other
The Birmingham Daily Mail, 31 March 1910.
Kieron McMahon, History of the Craven Arms information board

End of official list entry

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