Admiral Rodney Inn

Admiral Rodney Inn

A public house dating from the 18th century with an interior scheme of circa 1939 and further 20th-century alterations. The building is constructed of whitewashed brick with a Kerridge stone-slate roof and is predominantly two storeys in height.

The plan consists of a three-room arrangement to the main part of the ground floor, now opened-up, with two further rooms at the north-east end also opened-up to form a single space. A former passageway and adjacent cottage on the south-west side have been incorporated into the interior. Private accommodation occupies the first floor. A former stable range attached to the rear right now contains a kitchen and stores.

The south-east front elevation is the original part of the building and comprises a three-bay range with an off-centre doorway featuring a flat-arched head and a 20th-century studded door. Flanking the doorway are 3-light casement windows with replaced leaded glazing; two 3-light casement windows sit above on the first floor, both with small-pane cast-iron frames and replaced leaded glazing to the centre lights. An additional bay to the far right, believed to be a later addition and similarly styled, contains a 3-light casement window to the ground floor and a 4-light casement window to the first floor with small-pane cast-iron frames; the two outer lights have replaced leaded glazing. All windows have narrow painted sills. Three brick ridge stacks rise from the roof, with the south-west stack rendered. A neighbouring passageway to the left was infilled in 1983-5 and amalgamated internally, with the doorway blocked externally. An adjacent late 18th or early 19th-century two-bay cottage to the left, similarly constructed of whitewashed brick with Kerridge stone-slate roof, now forms part of the inn. The cottage, slightly taller at two storeys, has a ground-floor doorway with a 20th-century boarded door featuring an inset bull's-eye glazed panel, with a segmental-arched head. To the right is a 3-light casement window with transom bars, also with a segmental-arched head. A 2-light window and 3-light window above both have transom bars. This cottage was originally listed as part of the entry for Lilac Cottage (now Heritage List Entry number 1139573), which adjoins to the south-west.

The rear elevation originally formed the principal entrance before the construction of New Road in 1833 and incorporates numerous single-storey and two-storey projections, all with casement windows. A two-storey former stable range projects from the left side and overlooks a large rear yard, with a single-storey projection attached at right angles forming an L-shape. The range has boarded doors and fixed-pane windows.

The interior features a 'Brewer's Tudor' scheme believed to date mainly to circa 1939 when the inn was acquired by Robinson's Brewery. A small entrance vestibule with tiled floor and heavy panelled inner door incorporating decorative inset leaded glazing leads into an entrance lobby. The ground floor contains applied timberwork and both early and later beams. Although opened out, probably in the 1980s, the original plan remains readable: two rooms to the front and one to the rear, with two additional rooms at the north-east end. Most doorways have been removed, though two circa 1939 doors in matching style access the cellar and a small former toilet with circa 1939 glazed tiling, now used for storage. A large bar counter with recessed panels sits on the south-west wall, moved from its former position; the bar-back now occupies the space of the former adjacent passageway incorporated in the 1980s. All rooms contain fixed-bench seating and retain their circa 1939 glazed-brick and tile fireplaces and hearths, though all now have modern gas and electric fires and convection heater stoves inserted into the openings. The front-left room displays a painted depiction of Admiral Rodney's coat of arms above the fireplace, adorned with the motto 'NON GENERANT AQUILAE COLUMBAS' (eagles do not beget doves). Bell pushes, no longer in use, and an annunciator box in the bar servery also survive. Behind the front right room, a corridor leads to the two north-east rooms knocked through into a single space. Forming the north-west side of the corridor is the main stair, featuring a closed string, slender splat balusters, wide handrail, geometric-patterned timber and pierced-metal dog gate, and a newel post with lantern finial. The cellar stair, located underneath, has been replaced. The rear former stable range contains a modern commercial kitchen and has a doorway knocked through into the north-east rooms. An inserted opening in the south-west wall leads into the former passageway and ground floor of the neighbouring cottage, now containing toilets, office and bottle shed. The first-floor accommodation was not inspected.