Burlingtons Bar (at the Town House)

This public house, formerly the basement bar of the St Annes Hotel, dates from 1898 and features an interior design by Craven Dunnill. The building is constructed of rusticated sandstone with a rich ceramic tiled interior.

The bar occupies a rectangular footprint and is located in the basement of a later 20th-century public house. The exterior fronts St Annes Road West and is a single-storey, seven-bay building. To the right is an arcade of three large segmental, moulded window openings with keystones, alternating with two smaller round-arched door openings, all with similar detailing, and topped by a moulded cornice. To the left, the front elevation slightly projects and terminates with a stone band at eaves level, featuring a square-headed window and a similar entrance with a hoodmould. Ornate fenestration and doors are retained throughout; doors to the arcade have a square-within-a-square design, with lower panels and glazed segmental upper panels incorporating smaller panes of etched and studded glass. The main entrance mirrors this design.

The interior is accessed through original double doors into a small lobby with ornate timber partitions on both sides. These partitions have a square-within-a-square lower design and segmental-headed glazed upper panels, with smaller panes of etched and studded glass that echo the exterior. One glazed panel retains original brass bars and fittings. The south wall is richly tiled and includes a mirrored panel of classical design. Original double doors within the west partition provide access to the south end of the bar. The bar interior is extensively tiled in yellow, brown, green and pink polychrome tiles, with some floral motifs. The west wall tiling has been largely lost due to the insertion of a modern opening. The floor is tiled geometrically, and the walls are arcaded with classical moulded tiling, incorporating plain, floral and patterned tiles, alongside mirrored panels. The original ceiling has been altered, with the loss of the diaper pattern that is visible in historical photographs. Each window in the east arcade has a central, horizontal brass bar. A long north-south bar features a cyma-shaped front adorned with rich ceramic decoration, a rhythmic floral design, and a marble counter. Two metal plates are affixed to the counter, overlie former basins. The original classical bar back is full height, incorporating a pair of scrolled pediments and mahogany fittings in classical forms. The doors feature entablatures and serpentine pediments.

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