The Unicorn Hotel

The Unicorn Hotel is a public house dating from the earlier 19th century, and has been altered since its original construction. It is built of sandstone ashlar to the front, with watershot coursed sandstone to the sides and rear, and has a slate roof. The building is in an L-shape, consisting of a rectangular main block and a long wing to the left. It is styled in a Jacobean manner.

The front facade is symmetrical, with three windows, and features a central gable. There is a centrally placed doorway in a 17th-century style, with a hoodmould above. Canted bay windows are present at ground-floor level, and the first floor has cross-windows with four panes in each light, using double-hung sashes on one side only. The roof has a large front gable and projecting verges, topped with apex finials, and there are axial chimneys on the ridge of the roof on either side of the centre. A blocked doorway and a sashed window, appearing as a cross-window, are found on the left side wall. The wing extending to the rear has a basement doorway, two similar windows at ground floor, and three above, with a small inserted window at ground floor. The right-hand side wall has a modern brick addition at ground floor, housing toilets.

The rear wing includes an open-fronted double cart-house with a central iron column, and a former stable at the rear, which retains a manger. This stable is linked to remains of a former shippon, creating the rear end of a cobbled yard.

The ground floor interior has been largely altered, but retains a small lobby with large iron hooks in the ceiling. The building has large vaulted basements throughout, including a stone keeping table and butcher’s rails suspended from the ceiling. Original batten doors with strap hinges remain, including an external door to the yard with a ventilation grill.

Historically, the hotel is associated with a former cattle market that was held on the adjoining site in the earlier 19th century.