Lion Hotel And Associated Caves

The Lion Hotel and associated caves is a public house located on Clumber Street in Nottingham, dating from around 1730, with alterations made in 1846, around 1890, and in the 20th century. The caves, which are actually cellars, are likely from around 1800. The building is constructed of brick with a stucco front, stucco dressings, and a renewed tile roof, featuring a moulded eaves cornice.

The exterior consists of four storeys and a three-window range. It has an elaborate late 19th-century glazed tile shopfront, with pilasters framing a recessed entrance on the right and a three-light plate glass window on the left. A fascia cornice on brackets displays the hotel's name in raised tile lettering. Above the shopfront, there are three 12-pane sash windows with cornices on brackets, followed by three similar windows with cornices and a bracketed sill band. The upper section features a blank space flanked by 9-pane sashes, all set on a patterned sill band. The rear elevation includes a margin light sash on the second floor and two similar sashes above, with a datestone inscribed "GS 1846" between them.

Inside, the ground floor features a late 19th-century wooden fireplace with Ionic columns and a mirrored overmantel. There is an early 18th-century dogleg staircase leading to three floors, with a moulded and ramped handrail, two turned balusters per tread, boxed in, and moulded treads with scrolled ends. On the first floor, a front room boasts a nine-panel ceiling, moulded plaster decoration, and a high-quality white marble fireplace, along with segment-arched double panelled doors. The second floor contains early 18th-century panelled doors and surrounds.

The caves, accessed by brick winder stairs, are arranged over two levels, with the lower level being exceptionally deep at approximately 5 meters. The upper caves feature 19th-century elliptical arched brick lining. The lower cave measures approximately 6 by 8 meters and has rock-cut thrawls on each side. At one end, there is a round-arched doorway leading into a semicircular cave, approximately 5 meters across, which contains brick wine bins and stone shelves.