The Mitre Inn

Summary

A Tudor Revival style pub, constructed between 1932 and 1934 to the designs of Scott and Clark of Wednesbury.

Reasons for Designation

The Mitre Inn is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural Interest:

* for its bold and richly detailed neo-Tudor design, which demonstrates a high level of attention to detail in its materials and construction, even to secondary and utilitarian elements;

* for the quality and completeness of its original internal fittings, including detailed plasterwork cornicing, stained glass, carved timber panelling and bespoke fireplaces, all of which demonstrate skilful craftsmanship and survive well.

Historic Interest:

* as a competent example of an inter-war 'improved' public house by Scott and Clark who were accomplished architects of high quality public houses in the inter-war years.

History

The Mitre Inn in Stourbridge was constructed between 1932 and 1934, replacing an earlier building on the same site known as The Mitre Hotel. The Mitre Inn was designed by architects, Scott & Clark of Wednesbury, a firm responsible for a number of public houses and roadhouses around the Black Country, including the Navigation in Oldbury (Grade II, NHLE 1415308) and The Berkeley Hotel (Grade II, NHLE 1426932), as well as schools, and churches.

The building’s Tudor Revival design, with leaded glass windows by Samuel Evans and Co, was a style that became known as ‘Brewer’s Tudor’ and marked a shift towards ‘improved’ or ‘reformed’ public houses which aimed to attract customers from the growing middle class. The Mitre Inn was advertised as a Mitchells and Butlers House in newspapers around 1939 and was one of a large number of pubs around Birmingham and the Black Country that were tied with the brewery by this time. In the burgeoning age of the motor car, Mitchells and Butlers’ advertising emphasised their pubs as somewhere to drive out to, with some premises incorporating space for dining and dance floors.

The interior of the Mitre Inn would have originally been composed of a series of rooms around a central, three-sided bar. Over time some of the partition walls were removed, opening out the ground floor to create a larger interconnected space, and modern facilities were introduced. A block attached to the west side of the building, marked as a lavatory on maps from the 1950s, was removed sometime after the 1980s.

Details

A Tudor Revival style pub, constructed between 1932 and 1934 to the designs of Scott and Clark of Wednesbury.

MATERIALS: the building is constructed of pink-grey handmade brick, with half-timbering to the first floor, Cotswold stone dressings, and leaded glass windows.

PLAN: the building occupies a corner plot, with Crown Lane to the south and Lower High Street to the east. It has a wedge-shaped plan narrowing to a chamfered south-east corner entrance.

EXTERIOR: the building is characterised by its Tudor Revival style which features brick elevations with stone dressings, half-timbering to the first floor and heavily corbelled brick stacks. Windows feature leaded glazing, ornamented with heraldic designs including the mitre, those to the ground floor having mullions and transoms. The cast iron downpipes feature sections embossed with grape vines.

The main entrance is set into the south-east corner of the building within a moulded stone surmounted by one of three jettied gables to the road facing elevations. These feature half-timbering with rendered infill and carved dentil cornices supported by corbel brackets adorned with carved faces. The gable eaves are finished with decoratively carved cusped bargeboards with pendants. There are original hanging signs and lanterns to the south and east gabled bays.

The half-timbering continues across the first floor of the east elevation. The central bay of this elevation is half-timbered at ground floor level with herringbone brick nogging infill, and a jettied gable above. To the north side of this elevation is a recessed doorway with a leaded, stained glass top light within a Tudor-arched stone surround. The first floor of the south elevation is partially half-timbered, with an off-centre gable. Below is a pair of panelled doors with leaded top lights within moulded stone dressings. The west end of this elevation is constructed of brick with diapering below the first-floor windows. Below is a further door and windows within stone dressings. The west gable end features a projecting brick stack above an arched doorway. The rear of the building is constructed of brick and has a flat roof and a first-floor balconied terrace.

INTERIOR:
The principal corner entrance features a stained-glass top light with mitre motif and leads through a small, vestibule into the main bar area. The central three-sided bar features carved relief panelling and a glazed back bar with a carved shell frieze. The main bar room features painted timbers and a painted brick fireplace. The adjoining lounge has timber panelled walls, and embellished plaster cornicing. The stone fireplace in the lounge features a Tudor-arched opening and relief carving and is set within a decoratively carved mantel piece with flanking pilasters and an integral square clock. The pool room is also panelled, with a similarly carved stone fireplace and decorative timber mantel with inset clock. A room behind the bar retains a stylised brick fireplace with brick overmantel. This leads through to the backstair, that features stick balusters with transoms. The cellar below contains a barrel chute and tiled lightwells.

The north entrance lobby leads to the principal staircase which has carved timber newel posts and features a half-landing and a six-light stair window with leaded and stained-glass heraldry. The landing leads to a large function room which has a barrel-vaulted ceiling with bands of embellished plasterwork and decorative ventilation grills. The rear restrooms retain some glazed partitioning and leaded glass windows with patterned margin lights. Internal doors throughout are partially glazed with leaded and stained glass, many with original brassware.

Sources

Books and journals
Foster, A, Pevsner, N, Wedgwood, A, The Buildings of England: Birmingham and the Black Country, (2022), 551

Websites
The Urban and Suburban Public House in Inter-War England, 1918-1939 Volume 3, p162, accessed 15 May 2024 from https://historicengland.org.uk/research/results/reports/7724/TheUrbanandSuburbanPublicHouseinInter-WarEngland1918-1939Volume3
Mitchells & Butlers pubs in the Black Country and Staffordshire, accessed 15 May 2024 from http://breweryhistory.com/wiki/index.php?title=Mitchells_%26_Butlers_pubs_in_the_Black_Country_and_Staffordshire
Pub Heritage entry for the Mitre, accessed 2 August 2024 from https://pubheritage.camra.org.uk/pubs/10092

Other
1:500 Town Plan, Stourbridge, 1882
1:2500 Ordnance Survey, Staffordshire, 1938
1:2500 Ordnance Survey, 1956
The Birmingham Mail, 13 July 1939, p13

End of official list entry

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