The Beech Public House

The Beech Public House

A public house on Tong Road in Leeds, rebuilt in 1931 for Melbourne Brewery by the architects Garside and Pennington. The building is constructed in red brick with distinctive marble 'Marmo' cladding and detailing.

The structure comprises two storeys with a narrow frontage and an extended rear section that incorporates pre-existing domestic rooms. The ground floor plan features the Vaults, a large room stretching across the front, with two further public rooms behind to the left, and a side entrance with toilets to the right. Domestic quarters occupy the first floor. The building extends further to the rear left, with the rear right forming a yard. Tall chimneys flank each side.

The main elevation displays red brick to the first floor and white and green Marmo cladding at ground level. The central entrance contains an original door with small-paned glazed panel and rectangular overlight, set within an Art Deco style doorcase in white Marmo with stepped pilasters and architrave. Above this, the central bay projects forward and rises as a pediment topped with white Marmo cladding, containing two small windows with 6-paned toplights and single lights below. On either side of the door are large windows featuring original etched glass depicting Melbourne Ales and the company logo, with 10-over-1 pane windows above. The roofline is concealed behind a pediment that steps down from the central bay with matching Marmo dressings. The name Beech Hotel appears in relief lettering over each ground floor window. Chamfered corners to the frontage contain narrow windows at each floor level, with green and white cladding continuing to the chimney stacks. Large mosaic panels on each return carry the name Melbourne Ales in brown lettering on yellow ground.

The right return features two entrance doors—one serving the public house and one serving the private first-floor quarters. Four first-floor windows with varying sizes have top-opening casements with small panes above and single panes below. Five ground-floor windows are 2-pane, with the nearest to the front displaying etched glass matching the main elevation. The left return contains a side entrance to the former off-sales with one front window and two rear windows with etched glass. Three further ground-floor windows have plain glass, while five first-floor windows match those on the right return. The left side projects further to the rear with a blank wall, while the right side has a door to the yard and two first-floor windows.

The interior is entered via a lobby with angled sides and an inner door. Walls are glazed with etched glass above and green and white patterned tiles below. The Vaults, the main bar, stretches across the building's full width with a rear servery. The original bar counter features a panelled wooden front with rounded corners, and the bar back fittings retain their original decorative motif. The counter top is later. Original fixed seating with bell pushes, a timber fire surround, and an encaustic tiled floor complete the room. A rear-right door leads to a half-panelled corridor and side entrance with a small lobby featuring a terrazzo floor and green and white tiled walls. To the left of the bar a short passage formerly led to the off-sales door. Behind the Vaults, accessed via the corridor, is the Smoke Room with original fixed seating and timber fire surround. Beyond this is the Club Room, an elongated space with a vaulted ceiling, original coving, fixed seating, and timber fire surround. To the right of the Smoke Room are the Gents toilets with original green and white wall tiles. The first floor was not inspected.

A public house occupied the front part of the site from the mid-19th century onwards. The rear range, originally residential until the early 20th century, housed multiple single dwelling units as indicated by period plans showing stairs in almost every room. The 1931 reconstruction by Melbourne Brewery created the present layout. The Melbourne brewery was taken over by Tetley's in 1960, which designated the building as a 'Joshua Tetley Heritage Inn' in recognition of its character. Subsequently it came under the management of Punch Taverns.

During the 1931 reconstruction, internal arrangements were reorganised and ladies' toilets were added. Some fireplaces and hearths were lost, and a glazed panel was later inserted between the Smoke Room and Club Room. Despite these alterations, the building retains its original floor plan and a high proportion of original internal fittings and fixtures, including the bar counter and back, flooring, seating, and tilework in company colours.