Three Horseshoes Public House

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Whitwick LEICESTER ROAD 11, Three Horseshoes Public House

II Public house. Two cottages of early/mid C19, converted and extended with a front range to form public house in 1882. Red brick with hipped slate roof to front and plain tile roof to rear range. Various side and rear brick stacks. Two storeys. Front 1882 wing (plaque on front elevation) is a three window range at first floor of six/six sashes. Below is the front door with overlight with a tripartite window either side with one/one sashes. Window openings and front door have incised stucco lintels with keystones. Painted stone sills. Margin light sashes to sides except for left upper one/one sash. To right rear is the original earlier C19 range with truncated gable end stack. C20 windows to front. Attached to far right is a single-storey outbuilding which projects forward and has gable end to road.

INTERIOR: ground floor to front has two rooms with central servey. Front door opens into internal partially glazed timber lobby with an off-sales hatch facing. Public bar (entered by doorway with overlight above to left side of the lobby) has red quarry tiles to floor, late C19 panelled bar fittings and two fireplaces with timber and tiled surrounds. Fixed timber benches to external walls. Saloon bar (entered by doorway to right side of the lobby) has boarded floor and hatch to communicate with servery. Fireplace has carved timber surround. Dado rail to wall.

HISTORY: Whitwick, situated on the edge of the Charnwood Forest and in the former long-established Leicestershire coalfield, developed as a mining community following the opening of the Whitwick Colliery in the 1820s. The development along Leicester Road was largely undertaken 1850-1900 and public houses such as this one opened to serve the expanding population. The colliery closed in the late C20. However the Three Horseshoes (also know locally as 'Pollys' after a popular former barmaid), remains as a remarkably complete survival of a rare two-room working man's public house of the later C19.