The Shakespeare

The Shakespeare is a public house located on Linthorpe Road in Middlesbrough, built in the mid-19th century, with a distinctive 1911 frontage designed by Kitching and Lee. The building is constructed of red brick, featuring white terracotta bands and dressings, and has a ground floor faced with polychrome faience. It has a Welsh slate roof that is concealed by a parapet.

The structure is two storeys high and consists of three bays. On the left side, there are panelled double doors with a mullioned overlight, all set within a moulded surround that is topped with a hoodmould adorned with foliate drops. The ground-floor windows, which are mullioned and transomed, have similar surrounds, with the middle window being wider. The glazing in these windows has been renewed. Both the doorway and the window at the right end feature square keystones decorated with a lifebelt motif, which is also present in a panel beneath the middle window.

Above, there is a continuous frieze and cornice that rises at the ends to create tympana over the door and window, with the name "THE SHAKESPEARE" applied in lettering. The first floor includes a central oriel window with a foliate enriched undersailing, and the window surrounds are double-keyed and moulded, holding sash windows, except for the renewed fixed centre light of the oriel. The top entablature and parapet are embellished with balustraded panels at the ends and a central shaped false gable, which features a relief portrait of William Shakespeare in a roundel under a hoodmould. There is also applied lettering in the tympanum of the open pediment. The late 19th and 20th-century rear extensions are not considered of special interest.