Seven Stars Public House

The Seven Stars Public House, located on Brook Road in Oldswinford, Stourbridge, was built in 1907 for the Mitchell and Butler Brewery. It is constructed of red English bond brick with painted stone dressings and a gabled slate roof. The building is two storeys high with a cellar.

The street front features four canted bay windows on the ground floor, each with a hipped roof and etched and stained glass. There are entrances at the centre (leading to a lobby), to the right (to the front bar), and at the far right (originally to an off-premises sale counter), each sheltered by a gabled porch. A large lantern is positioned above the central door on a wrought iron bracket, and a gable above this central bay incorporates decorative bargeboards. The gabled reveals also feature decorated bargeboards, and the timberwork to the eaves is elaborately decorated. Four brick chimneys rise from the ridge, retaining their full height and panelled tops. Flanking the building are square gate piers with pyramidal tops and ball finials; the right-hand piers lead to a stable yard containing a three-bay, open-fronted cart shed. The left-hand piers have been integrated into the facade of a 20th-century single-storey dining room.

The interior largely retains the original plan form, with the front bar located to the right of the lobby, a Smoke Room behind it, and a Club Room to the left of the lobby. Behind the lobby is a staircase hall, linked by spinal and cross corridors. The first floor features a lobby at the top of the stairs, with tiling to the dado and coat hooks, and a large function room to the right with an open roof and cornice. High-quality tilework is present in the central lobby, public bar, staircase hall, spinal and cross corridors, and the first-floor lobby. Original etched glass is found in the four canted bay windows on the entrance front and the windows in the rear Smoke Room. The bar and bar back in the public bar are original, with the latter exhibiting tiled panels and mirrors within five arched canopies. Original fixed window seats have tiled backs, and a serving hatch retains its original etched glass. Terrazzo flooring with coloured borders is present in the corridor areas, while the staircase features carved Jacobethan newel posts and balusters. The Smoke Room contains a long, upholstered fixed bench running around three sides of the room, with bell pushes to the wall board and carved armrests. Etched glass panels in the doors identify the functions of the different rooms, including one formerly labelled “BEER GARDEN” which now leads to a service room.

The public house retains its original plan and many original features, most notably high-quality tilework throughout the bar and public areas.