38-42, Parliament Street

A toll house and inn, now vacant, was constructed around 1787 and altered in the 20th century. It was originally built as a toll house for Skerton Bridge, which dates from 1783-87, and it was designed by Thomas Harrison as part of his plan for the bridge’s approach. The building is constructed of sandstone ashlar, with squared coursed sandstone to the sides, and has slate roofs. Located on the axis of the bridge, it was intended to terminate the view when travelling south towards Lancaster.

The building is symmetrical, consisting of a taller two-storey, three-bay central block linked by screen walls to two-storey, three-bay pavilions, each with a pedimented gable. All front windows are glazing bar sash windows, currently covered with temporary panels. The central block features a plain ashlar lower storey, with the bays of the upper storey separated by paired engaged Ionic columns supporting a plain frieze, dentilled cornice, and a blocking course. A blank tablet sits above the central window, while blind rectangular recesses are positioned above the outer windows. The doorway has a pediment supported by plain console brackets, and a door constructed of six vertical panels with a glazed horizontal panel above. The roof is hipped, with chimneys positioned to the left and right.

The screen walls, each of five bays, have a cornice and blocking course, and feature alternating round-headed and rectangular blind recesses. The pavilions incorporate storey bands below the moulded pediments and a blind recess in the center of the first floor, with a chimney on both the front and rear gables. The return wall of each pavilion has three bays (the bay nearest the front being blind) and a central, single-storey ashlar porch with a cornice and blocking course, incorporating pilasters flanking the doorway. The rear of the central block features a tall stair window and is connected to No. 38 (to the south) by a late 20th-century restaurant extension.

The interior includes a staircase with stick balusters, visible through a window in the central block.