The Wheatsheaf

The Wheatsheaf is a public house with attached outbuildings and a boundary wall, dating to approximately 1900. It was designed by William and Segar Owen, architects for the Greenall Whitley Brewery Company. The building is constructed of red brick with terra-cotta dressings, tall brick chimneys with banded decoration, and a Westmorland slate roof laid to diminishing courses. The plan is a courtyard arrangement, with the main public house facing the street, a service courtyard to the rear, and an entrance gateway.

The front elevation, facing south-east, is two storeys and attics, with three bays, and features double-gabled bays to the left. The left-hand gable has triple sashes to the ground floor, the upper sashes with small panes. The right-hand gable has a doorway with a shallow semi-circular arched overlight within a banded surround, and a matching window opening alongside. First-floor Venetian windows are positioned below the gabled apexes, both banded. To the right, three narrow first-floor sashes are set above two shallow segmental arch-headed ground-floor windows with three-light transoms, and a secondary doorway. A three-light attic dormer window is set into the roof slope. The left return has stacked sash windows with sub-divided upper lights, and a lower single bay with a single ground-floor window. The right return has a wide ground-floor window beneath an arched head, a single sash window, and a smaller window opening.

The interior retains the original plan, with clearly defined bar areas reflecting the original room divisions. The bar counter and back bar have been remodelled, but the former separate bar areas retain moulded plasterwork, fixed bench seating, and hearth surrounds.

A range of outbuildings and a boundary wall are attached to the rear. A prominent corner stable tower has a shallow pyramidal roof with louvred and glazed stable windows beneath a lintel band, and above this a panel of red diaper brickwork. A lower-pitched roof outbuilding links with the south-east side wall of the public house. A tall boundary wall extends to the south-west, with brick gatepiers topped with domed stone caps, defining the entrance to the service courtyard and meeting the frontage building.

The Wheatsheaf is a substantial and well-detailed public house, demonstrating the level of investment made by an influential regional brewery company. It was designed by a notable architectural practice and retains group value context.