Cutlers Arms

Cutlers Arms

Public house built in 1907 by Sheffield architect James Wigfull for the brewer Wm Stones. The building occupies a narrow site angled away from the frontage to the left, and is constructed of dressed glazed faience blocks with a glazed red brick skirt and Welsh slate roof.

The frontage comprises three and a half bays arranged over two and a half storeys. A modern outer door in the second bay from the right features a stained glass overlight, with a single window to its left containing six panes and stained glass. The ground floor windows display single large stained glass panes with fourteen panes above, flanked by bays on either side. Two first floor windows have slightly arched tops with alternate projecting voussoirs and plain glass. A half bay on the left side contains a ground floor stained glass window matching the central bay design. Repeated horizontal projecting banding runs across the ground floor.

The half bay features heraldic relief carving above its window and "CUTLERS' ARMS" in raised lettering above. Red tile panels containing raised lettering of "Wm STONES Ltd" and "CUTLERS ARMS" sit above the ground floor windows on the other bays. The bays are separated by projecting pilasters bearing relief armorial carvings at their tops, including a cannon motif and the date 1907. An interrupted decorated parapet bears "CANNON ALES" in raised lettering over the two outer bays. The central bay contains a three-light sash dormer window in the roof.

The south gable elevation is constructed of red brick with stone horizontal banding, and also displays raised lettering reading "CUTLERS' ARMS", "Wm STONES Ltd" and "WINES & SPIRITS". All stained glass features green foliage and yellow flowers in Art Nouveau style, with central panels displaying logos for "Cannon Ales", "Wm Stones Ltd" and "Wines & Spirits" in white on red.

The interior features a lobby with mosaic tile floor and green tiled walls leading to an original inner door with brass fittings and stained glass overlight. The front bar has a mosaic tile floor (now under carpet), original cornices and an original decorated wooden bar in the corner with a stained glass dividing screen to a further bar to the left. This adjacent bar is entered through an original door and contains a quarter-circle wooden bar with original fittings behind. The fireplace here is lost but skirtings and windows remain intact; one window at the right hand end has been restored to a high standard. To the right of the front bar lies a former smoke room, now opened out but retaining original cornices and most skirtings. Beyond the front bar is a rear room partially opened out, with windows to the rear including two etched glass sash windows, and original cornices and skirtings. A former serving hatch to this room has been replaced with a bar extension using original skirting from the smoke room and matching the style of the original bars. A passage to the right features green tiled walls up to dado rail, and on the right a half-glazed door and side screen with stained glass overlight leading to the upper floors. The first floor retains much of its original layout with three principal rooms along the front and two rooms plus bathroom to the rear. Fireplaces are lost or replaced, but cornices and skirtings remain intact. The top floor was not accessed during survey.

There were earlier "Cutlers' Arms" on this site, the first appearing in a directory of 1825. The pub was rebuilt in 1866, when it became a Stones tied house. The 1907 rebuilding formed part of a general reconstruction of Westgate to provide a broader highway into the town and relieve traffic congestion.