Ye Horns Inn

Ye Horns Inn

A public house dating from the late 18th century, remodelled during the inter-war period. The building is constructed of local sandstone, rendered with applied mock timber, and has slate roof coverings.

The inn occupies a prominent position at the junction of Inglewhite Road and Horns Lane. Its plan forms a linear range running parallel to Horns Lane, with a short projecting return along Inglewhite Lane.

The building stands two storeys high with attics beneath pitched roofs of graduated slate, coped gables and end stacks marking the earliest section, and a right gable stack serving the later addition. Mock timber framing is a dominant external feature throughout. All window frames on the principal elevations are 20th-century replacement timber sliding sash windows, with uPVC frames used on the side and rear.

The south-east elevation facing Horns Lane displays a slightly projecting double-fronted section on the left, containing a central entrance with a canopied hood. Rectangular windows with projecting stone sills occupy the ground and first floors. A large date stone placed centrally on the first floor is inscribed 1782 and bears the initials W W E. To the right is a slightly lower blind section. The left return features a single first-floor window and a small square light to the attic. The north-east elevation facing Inglewhite Road has a canted bay window and a side entrance immediately to its right, fitted with a boarded and studded door with strap hinges and a rectangular fanlight above. The first floor contains a pair of rectangular windows; the original roof pitch has been visibly altered by the insertion of a staircase. A projecting bay with scattered fenestration stands to the right.

The interior contains waney ceiling beams throughout the building. Although these could have been added during the inter-war refit, they appear to be original 18th-century elements, as they are found across the entire building rather than only in public areas, and all share similar dimensions.

To the right of the passage from the Horns Lane entrance is a small hatch with leaded folding doors providing service access to the adjacent snug or parlour bar. To the left of the passage are two small dining rooms: the front room bears the figure four on its door and has lost its fireplace, whilst the rear room displays the figure five on its wide-plank door, retains a baffle at the entrance, and contains a 1950s brick fireplace.

The small main bar is entered at the end of the passage on the right. It features a panelled dado, fixed corner seating with curved ends, and a corbel-headed stone fireplace consistent with an 18th-century date, though a brick fireplace of later 20th-century origin has been inserted. Immediately to the left of the fireplace is a small inset cupboard with a panelled door. The servery retains an intact screened front of timber and glass with three rising panels, two of which are locked in the open position. Behind the screen is contemporary bar shelving. The counter front, constructed of brick in three sections separated by wooden strips, is believed to date to the 1930s.

The snug room (or parlour bar) is accessed through a door within the screen and features a baffle at the entrance, a panelled dado, and an inter-war carved timber chimney piece with a brick insert. Contemporary bar back shelving stands above and to either side. The survival of a snug room where customers and serving staff share the same space represents an exceptionally rare survival nationally.

A door from the main bar, marked with the figure three on its back, leads to a passage connecting with the side door on Inglewhite Lane. Off this passage is another small dining room marked with the figure one on its door, which retains a curvilinear plasterwork ceiling and an inter-war carved wooden chimney piece with a glazed tile insert. To the left of this passage, access leads to the kitchen and service areas, with an inserted stair providing access to a pair of small first-floor rooms.

At the far end of the entrance passage from Horns Lane, a 19th-century dog-leg stair with stick balusters ascends to a large first-floor dining room featuring an inter-war carved timber chimney piece and a 1950s tiled fireplace, and to another small dining room. The stair continues to a pair of small attic rooms which retain original, exposed double purlins of similar size and form to the ceiling beams.

An attached former agricultural range, now converted to hotel accommodation, and a rear 20th-century extension are not of special interest and are excluded from the listing. The interiors of the ground-floor kitchen and service areas are not of special architectural or historic interest.