Huyton Cricket and Bowling Club Pavilion

Huyton Cricket and Bowling Club Pavilion

A cricket and bowling pavilion built in 1875 for the Huyton Cricket and Bowling Club, with extensions or alterations made before 1891. A late 20th or early 21st century extension is not included in the listing.

The single-storey pavilion is constructed on a deep brick plinth with timber-framing throughout. The rectangular building features expanded ends and is symmetrical in plan. Both long elevations are identical, with a wide canted bay window at each end topped by dormers, a central doorway, and a raised veranda running the length of the elevation.

The timber frame consists of chamfered timbers, or chamfered and stopped timbers, with larger moulded verticals marking the angles of the bay windows. The frame is painted black. The infill panels between and above the windows are vertical tongue-and-groove boarding, painted white, with some replaced sections using timber sheeting, though substantial original infill remains. The building is topped with a gambrel roof featuring deep overhanging eaves with sprockets and set-back catslide roofs on both side elevations. The roof is covered in modern concrete tiles.

The south-east elevation faces the cricket pitch. The closely-spaced sprockets of the eaves have shaped ends and are supported by shaped brackets rising from the two canted bay windows towards the outer corners, and by slender decorative turned timber columns and brackets flanking the central doorway. The windows and doorway are now boarded up externally, though the original segmental-arched windows remain internally in the central room (those on the south-east lacking glazing bars). The bay windows have been altered to form single central picture windows, but the timber frames remain and evidence suggests the original frames survive beneath the boarding. The original band of small-pane glazing is visible internally above the left-hand bay window. Individual outer windows beneath the catslide are also boarded up. Above each bay window is a wide gabled dormer with bargeboards and applied decorative timber framing over a row of square windows (boarded up). Internally, the left-hand dormer contains five lights of leaded coloured glass; the right-hand has four replacement lights. The dormer side panels retain their tongue-and-groove boarding. The central doorway has timber double doors now covered with metal sheeting. Fixed benches with decorative turned balusters flank the doorway on each side. The veranda is edged by a low brick wall, plastered and painted white.

The north-west elevation mirrors the south-east, facing the bowling green. All windows and doors are boarded up externally, though the central room retains original segmental-arched timber window frames with slender glazing bars internally. The band of small-pane glazing is visible above the central doorway. A narrow doorway has been inserted into the left-hand bay. The veranda comprises two levels: timber boarding next to the building and a lower concrete level beside the balustrade. The central steps retain timber balustrades with shaped posts bearing diamond finials.

The south-west side elevation features a low catslide roof and timber-framing with partially original tongue-and-groove infill. A former doorway at the right-hand end is now boarded up. The ridge gablet is boarded.

The north-east side elevation has a low catslide roof; most is obscured by the modern extension. The ridge gablet is louvred.

The interior contains a large central club room with original timber roof structure behind tongue-and-groove boarding on walls and ceiling. A stud cross wall on the south-west side has been replaced with blockwork to accommodate modern services. The north-east stud wall remains, encasing a timber door. Beyond are former changing rooms with full-height tongue-and-groove-lined ceilings and the remains of a timber partition formerly dividing the space into two equal-sized changing rooms. The original segmental-arched window frames with glazing bars are retained internally.