The Golden Cup

The Golden Cup is a public house built around 1907 with a façade added in 1912. It stands on the north fringe of Hanley town centre, facing east onto Old Town Road.

The building is constructed of red brick laid to Flemish bond with a plain tile roof. The façade, added in 1912, is the building's most distinctive feature. It comprises four bays and is clad in dark green faience tiling. The ground floor features a faience tilework façade divided by pilasters and topped by deep scrolled brackets supporting a pulvinated frieze bearing the words "BASS ONLY" in gold lettering. This wording is punctuated by a gold swag above the left door and the Red Triangle Bass trademark above what was the central doorway, now a window. The trademark reappears in lifebelts beneath the two large windows.

At first-floor level, to the left of the centre, is a large ceramic sign depicting a two-handled golden chalice with the words "THE/GOLDEN/CUP/INN". Three 1/1 sash windows with lugged and shouldered surrounds with aprons and pronounced keystones are set in the façade. At either side are fluted tilework pilasters carrying a green tiled cornice. To the right is a small single storey extension set back from the road, constructed of blue brick with banding and a mono-pitch roof. Rear windows have been replaced with casements, and the external stack has been truncated. There are two gable end stacks visible to the right and one to the left.

The pub retains its original wooden bar with fluted pilasters and mirrored back bar with drawers. The bar has a wooden superstructure supported on elaborately turned posts surmounted by miniature acroteria. The rear right room retains fixed upholstered seating with bell-pushes. Although internal rearrangement has occurred, the original plan form is still discernible. The fireplaces in both bars are replacements. The etched glass panels, though original, have been re-sited.

The pub was first listed in trade directories in 1907. The faience "Bass Only" signage was added in 1912 and was probably the work of the Campbell Tile Company, one of the companies founded following the fragmentation of Minton & Co. The Bass Red Triangle is Britain's oldest registered trademark, being the first to be registered in 1876 following the Trademarks Registration Act of 1875. The symbol had been used on Bass Pale Ale labels from around 1855, developing from the shipping mark on ale casks.