The Eagle

The Eagle is an early 19th-century public house located on Main Street, Skerne. It is constructed of rendered brick with a pan tile roof.

The building’s plan features a corridor running centrally through the front façade, with public rooms to either side. A private room is situated to the rear right, and a servery is located to the rear left within an under-stairs pantry; this servery lacks a counter or hatch. Single-storey outbuildings are attached to the right and rear of the main building.

The exterior is two storeys high with symmetrical front elevation and end stacks. The first floor has 2-over-2-light horned sash windows flanking the central pub sign. Early 20th-century bay windows are present on the ground floor, with a linked roof sheltering the central doorway. The rear elevation exhibits a second span roof to the right and a catslide roof to the left, with 20th-century casement windows.

The interior corridor has a plain red tiled floor and match boarded ceiling. Plank doors lead to the servery (which is three-quarter height), the private room, and the stairs. A railed door provides access to the public room on the right, while a panelled door opens to the left public room. Both public rooms feature fitted bench seating around the walls and within the bay windows. The right public room has match boarding to dado height and ceiling, while the left room retains exposed ceiling joists. A beer cellar is formed beneath the stairs, housing the beer engines.

The Eagle operated as a licensed public house from at least 1822.

The building is of significant interest as a rare, unimproved example of a public house, where beer is dispensed directly from the storage area. It is one of only eleven public houses nationally that lacks a bar counter or hatch. Its early plan, simple and largely unaltered interior, and modest exterior combine to create a remarkable survival within a national context.