The Vale Hotel (Public House)

The Vale Hotel, now a public house, was built between 1935 and 1937, with a further extension in 1964. It was designed by T Cecil Howitt of Nottingham for Home Ales Brewery. The building is constructed of pale brick with ashlar dressings and has a plain tile hipped roof with two ridge chimney stacks. The exterior features plain parapets topped with ashlar coping to all walls, and flat roofs to the wings. There is an ashlar plinth and sill band. The building is two stories high with single-story wings.

The west front has a projecting ground floor with six tall, recessed windows linked by lintel and sill bands with stepped brick jambs. These windows have 16-pane cross casements with margin light glazing. Projecting, lower porches flank the central section; the left porch has a side doorway in a stepped back brick surround with double panel doors, and the right porch has a front door in a similar brick surround with a single panel door. Above the central section are three recessed windows with 12-pane tripartite cross casements within similar surrounds. The side wings are blank on both floors. The north front has a projecting single-story wing with a semi-circular bowed window and recessed windows with 16-pane cross casements. Above this are two recessed windows with 12-pane tripartite cross casements. An altered wing projects to the left with a doorway in a stepped back brick surround and double panel doors. The south wing has matching fenestration to the north front, including a bowed ground floor wing. The rear east front features a later single-story wing added in 1964, also in a similar style, with a canted bay window with three lights. Above the original, slightly projecting centre, similar to the west front, are three recessed windows with 12-pane tripartite cross casements, and two smaller windows on either side, the rightmost with a glazed door. Original metal frame casement windows are present throughout.

The interior retains the original plan, with a new bar added to the rear in 1964 by Howitt & Partners. Much of the original Art Deco style decoration remains, including the fluted bar front, an arch, wooden panelling in the south Smoke Room & Buffet, the original bar to the Public Bar, wooden panelling to the Hall and Lounge (with the division between them now removed), original coving, light fittings, wooden door surrounds, and doors with chrome door furniture. This public house is of fine quality and is exceptionally well-preserved both externally and internally. The building was featured in "The Planning and Equipment of Public Houses" by Francis W B Yourke, demonstrating best examples of public house architecture of the period.