Circus Tavern and Attached Railings

The Circus Tavern, located at 86 Portland Street in Manchester, is a public house that originated as a house in the late 18th century or early 19th century. It features a later 19th-century extension at the rear and has been internally remodeled to serve as a public house. The building is constructed of brick with a lined-out stucco front elevation and has a Welsh slate roof with an end brick stack.

The Tavern has a double-depth plan with a single-room width, including a corridor that leads to two public rooms on the right. The exterior consists of a single bay with three storeys above a cellar. The entrance is on the left, with a single sash window to the right and late 20th-century railings in front of the cellar access. On the first floor, there is a 2-light sash window, and the second floor features a 3-light casement window, with each light divided into three panes.

Inside, the layout maintains a single room width with a small corridor on the left and two public rooms on the right. These rooms are separated from the corridor by a vertically-boarded partition, which has a glazed upper section in the rear. Both public rooms have fixed bench seating, and the doorways are flanked by baffle screens. There are 20th-century replacement fireplaces in both rooms. A small servery in the corridor, which has a glazed superstructure, dates from around 1930.

The Circus Tavern is a small urban public house that has been adapted from an earlier dwelling. Despite its narrow internal dimensions, it retains its room divisions and modest fittings, making such examples rare nationally and especially uncommon in metropolitan areas.