Burlingtons Bar (at the Town House)

Public house, formerly the basement bar of the St Annes Hotel, 1898 with an interior scheme by Craven Dunnill.

MATERIALS: rusticated sandstone exterior; rich ceramic tiled interior.

PLAN: rectangular bar with entrance lobby oriented north to south, forming the basement of a re-built later-C20 public house.

EXTERIOR: the basement bar fronts St Annes Road West and is a rusticated sandstone, single-storey building of seven bays. To the right there is an arcade comprising three large segmental, moulded window openings with keystones, alternating with two smaller round-arched door openings with similar detailing. Above is a moulded cornice. To the left of the arcade the elevation projects slightly, terminating in a stone band at eaves level; there is a square-headed window opening and a similar entrance with hoodmould over. Ornate fenestration and doors are retained throughout; doors to the arcade have a square-within-a-square design lower panels and glazed segmental upper panels with smaller panes above fitted with etched and studded glass. The main entrance has an identical lower panel and square-headed glazed upper panels.

INTERIOR: entered through original double doors into a small lobby formed of ornate timber partitions to two sides of; the lower parts of these have a square-within-a-square design and the upper parts have a pair of segmental-headed glazed panels, with smaller panes above fitted with etched and studded glass echoing those of the exterior. The north partition may have been slightly modified to allow the panels to open and one of the glazed panels retains original brass bars and fittings. The south wall is richly tiled with an ornate mirrored panel of classical design and original double doors within the west partition give access to the south end of the bar. The interior of the bar is extensively tiled in yellow, brown, green and pink polychrome tiles with some floral motifs; that to the west wall has mostly been lost by the insertion of a large modern opening. There is a geometric tiled floor and arcaded walls with classical moulded tiling incorporating plain, floral and patterned tiles and some with mirrored panels. The original ceiling has been altered with the loss of the diaper pattern to the ceiling visible in an historic photograph. Each of the windows forming the east arcade has a central, horizontal brass bar. There is a long bar running north-south with a cyma-shaped bar front adorned with rich, ceramic decoration with a rhythmic floral design and a marble counter. Two metal plates affixed to the counter overlie two former basins. The original classical bar back is full height and incorporates a pair of scrolled pediments and a range of mahogany fittings in classical forms. Doors have entablatures and serpentine pediments.

The original hotel stone access steps, walls and entrances and decorative piers are excluded from the listing as are other elements of the rebuilt hotel building.