Guinness Bar In The Old Grandstand At York Racecourse

The Guinness Bar in the Old Grandstand at York Racecourse is a grandstand that has been converted into a bar. It was originally built in 1755 and was partly demolished and reconstructed around 1920. The structure was designed by John Carr and is made of orange brick in English bond, with dressings of ashlar sandstone. The roof is not visible.

The exterior features a one-storey, nine-bay front that sits on a moulded stone plinth. The centre and end bays are faced with rusticated stone and project forward, with the centre bay topped by a pediment. The bays are arcaded, with the end and centre ones having round arches made of radiating voussoirs, while the other arches feature rubbed brick with a stone impost band. Each arch is covered by a 20th-century canopy. A moulded stone eaves cornice runs beneath a balustraded parapet, which is adorned with bulbous balusters, plain stone piers, and moulded coping.

The rear of the building also has a one-storey, nine-bay layout on a brick plinth. The outer and centre bays are blind, while the other bays feature blind arcading beneath a stepped brick cornice and a plain parapet with flat stone coping.

The interior has not been inspected. This structure is noted as the last remnant of one of the most impressive 18th-century grandstands in England.