The Three Pigeons Public House

The Three Pigeons Public House

This public house was designed by the Halifax architectural firm Jackson and Fox and built in 1932 by Samuel Webster & Sons, brewers. It replaced an earlier pub on the same site and stands as one of a series of interwar pubs designed by Jackson and Fox for Webster's brewery.

The building is constructed in sandstone with stone slate roofs and stone dressings. It is two storeys tall with a front range of two bays and rear ranges to the left and right, the latter having its gable to the side. A lower flat-roofed section extends to the rear. The ground level falls steeply toward the rear, where the basement becomes a full floor above ground level. Stone chimney stacks rise from the ridge ends of both gables, with a further stack at the rear.

The main elevation features a central entrance door with shaped stone dressings and a plain glass overlight. On either side stands a single-storey semi-circular three-light bay window with shaped stone dressings and timber-framed replacement windows. Above the door at first floor level is a recessed canted arched panel containing the pub sign, surrounded by decoratively carved stone dressings and topped with a sculpture in white stone of three pigeons. To either side at first floor are three-light stone mullioned windows with replacement timber frames and plain stone dressings. A low curved and stepped parapet crowns the facade. The right return (south side) features a double-pile gable end with three windows at first floor and three at ground floor, all with replacement timber frames. Below these are two doors and several windows to the cellars, some retaining original pivoting windows. Further windows serve the ground floor and basement of the flat-roofed rear extension. The left return (north side) displays a single gable with single windows at ground and first floor, backed by a range to the rear containing a series of smaller windows serving multiple floors. A balcony extends across the rear of the flat-roofed section, with a chimney stack rising from the kitchen below.

The interior preserves much of its original character and layout. A short passage from the outer door leads to an original glazed panelled inner door opening into an octagonal drinking lobby—a distinctive feature typical of northern pubs. The lobby floor is laid in terrazzo with a geometric design in buff and green, with terrazzo extending into the rear passageway. The walls feature original oak veneer cladding, and the lobby ceiling carries a painting of pigeons on a roof executed in the 1980s. The front rooms to right and left retain original fixed benches with bell push rails and wooden fire surrounds with replaced tiles. The middle room to the right has similar fittings with original tiling to the fireplace incorporating animal designs, and later openings in its walls connect it to the front room and corridor. The servery to the left preserves an original counter front with oak veneer fluted pilasters and flush panels, with oak-veneered back fittings incorporating mirrored and glass panels, including a glass panel advertising Webster's beers. Doors to the front rooms feature oak veneer construction with metal-framed sub-rectangular glazed panels; the front right door carries BAR LOUNGE in metal ribbon lettering. Similar doors provide access to the Ladies and Gents toilets located in the left corridor. The rear right room, originally a private living room, now has modern fittings, as does the kitchen. The extensive cellars retain some windows with their original metal opening mechanisms. On the first floor, a large front room has an original timber fire surround, and a smaller front room contains an original small metal fireplace.

Plans from 1929 show the ground floor layout has remained largely unchanged since the pub's construction, though a rear room originally formed part of the private quarters and adjustments have been made to the cloakroom area. The pub opened in 1932 to a long-standing initial tenancy followed by a succession of occupants. The freehold was sold in the 1980s and again in 2005 to Izakaya Pub Company, which undertook a refurbishment that both revealed and sensitively restored surviving original features while maintaining a clear distinction between old and new work.

Jackson and Fox also designed the listed Royal Oak in central Halifax and became the architects responsible for all of Webster's interwar pub buildings. The Three Pigeons retains its distinctive room layout including the central drinking lobby, good survival of original features including fireplaces, fixed seating, oak-veneered walls, bar fittings, room signage and cornices in a distinctively Art Deco style, and an exterior that, while largely traditional in appearance, remains largely unaltered except for replacement front window glazing and shows points of architectural interest in its stepped parapet and sculptural pub sign.