Former Noah'S Ark Inn

The Former Noah's Ark Inn is a public house that has been used as an office for the market hall in the 20th century and is currently empty, undergoing refurbishment in connection with a shopping centre. The building likely dates back to the early 16th century, with a refronting from the 19th century. It is constructed of ashlar and features a slate roof with tile cresting and brick end stacks. The building is designed in a Tudor style and has an L-plan layout. It stands two storeys tall with an attic and has a four-window range, with a rounded angle on the right return. There are cornices over both floors and a top coped parapet. A two-storey canted bay window features 2:3:2-light ovolo-mullioned-and-transomed windows; the ground floor includes a cross-mullioned window to the left, an entrance with a mullioned overlight to the right, and a right end light. The first floor has smaller lights with dripstones flanking the bay and a larger right end light, along with a gabled dormer window over the bay. The angle of the building has single lights on both floors, and the ground floor cornice steps up to the angle and the right return, which has similar details to the front but with a shallower roof pitch. The interior is inaccessible but has been recorded as having chamfered beams and joists. Local tradition suggests that Elizabeth I visited the inn on her way to Stafford Castle.