61 and 63 Westgate (formerly the White Horse Hotel)

The White Horse Hotel, now 61 and 63 Westgate, is a public house built in 1901 to a design by H Crutchley. It is a notable example of Northern Renaissance revival style with Art Nouveau detailing.

The front elevation is constructed of sandstone ashlar, while the west gable and chimney are also finished in sandstone ashlar. The side and rear elevations are red brick, with a Welsh slate roof. The building incorporates a central entrance on its north-facing principal elevation, which fronts Westgate. A secondary entrance is located at the rear, opening onto White Horse Yard.

The street frontage is gabled and comprises five bays and three storeys, with an attic. The façade is divided by horizontal entablatures between floors, and triple pilasters flank each bay on the first and second floors. The ground floor features round-arched openings in bays one, three, and five, with windows on either side and a central entrance with an Art Nouveau-glazed overlight. These arches have keystones, imposts, and shallow relief carvings within the spandrels. Above are triangular pediments, supported by fluted corbels, with shallow relief carvings in the tympanums, including a ‘greenman’ mask in the central bay. Bays two and four have flat-arched window openings with curved corners and a foliated frieze above. A continuous sill band and moulded panels run between a moulded plinth and the windows.

The first and second floor window openings echo the design of those on the ground floor in bays two and four. The pilasters have bases in an early English style, and capitals with fluting and egg-and-dart motifs.

The attic storey features a triangular coped gable with a three-light window opening framed by pilasters that extend above the roofline as pinnacles with ball finials, topped by an ornamental frieze with a swag and scrolls. A decorative shield inscribed with the date ‘1901’ sits above. A high-pitched Welsh slate roof, pierced ridge tiles, and an elaborate ashlar chimney are also present. A taller, mirror-image chimney is attached to the adjacent building. Two additional brick chimneys are located to the rear of the street frontage.

The rear range, of nine bays and three storeys, is built of brick in a utilitarian style characteristic of 1901. It features segmental-arch headed openings, some retaining original sash windows and geometric leaded glazing. Three tall ridge stacks are present, along with various later alterations and small extensions.