Paine'S Brewery And Related Buildings Forming Two Courtyards To The Rear

Paine's Brewery and Related Buildings Forming Two Courtyards to the Rear, St Neots

Paine's Brewery occupies the south side of Market Square at numbers 32 to 36 (even). The main range facing the square dates to circa 1831 and presents a symmetrical facade of three storeys. The frontage comprises seven windows, with three middle windows set in a slightly projecting bay that rises through all floors and is crowned with a pediment surmounted by a weather vane. The building is constructed of gault brick with stone dressings, and is topped with a stone cornice above a panelled parapet. The windows are square-headed with rusticated arches and retain glazing bars. A central arched recess contains a Venetian first-floor window with side-lights, now blocked. Above at second floor level is a clock set beneath a bracketed arched head with a panel below inscribed "ESTD 1831". The central carriageway features a semi-elliptical rusticated arch providing access to the rear courtyards.

The shopfronts are good wooden examples. Number 32 features Ionic half columns carrying an entablature with scrolled ends. Number 34 has narrow paired brackets carrying an entablature with modillioned cornice and a projecting shop window.

Behind the brewery, accessed through the elliptical-arched carriageway, are three ranges of industrial structures forming two courtyards. These buildings were used in various stages of the brewing process and represent several distinct construction periods. The earliest structures predate the main Market Square range and likely originate from the 17th century, while the latest structures date to the early 20th century. Collectively, they vividly illustrate the history of Paine's Brewery over two centuries and constitute a handsome collection of industrial buildings with definite architectural character.

On the left as one enters the brewyard stands a short two-storey red brick structure with a tiled roof and single-window range. This is followed by an early 19th-century stock brick structure with a slate roof and three-window range, which retains somewhat domestic character with a door of original design near the centre of the elevation and an overlight. A segmental-arched opening is evident, and the rear elevation facing the east courtyard contains several windows with sashes of Regency-period design. This structure may be contemporary with the Market Square range or even slightly earlier.

A slightly lower two-storey structure is timber-framed with red brick infill, possibly of 17th-century origin, though most internal floor joists appear contemporary with the early 19th-century brick skin. The steeply pitched tiled roof is consistent with an earlier date. To the south stands a somewhat higher two-storey brick block with a three-window range and slate roof, dating to the early 19th century.

At the end of this range, with good brick polychrome detailing to three elevations, is the former brewhouse and brewhouse stack—by far the most architecturally distinguished and noteworthy structure in this courtyard. Dating to the late 19th century, it features segmental-arched openings to ground and first floors, a two-window range with a lunette to the facing gable, and a chimney set back on the right return. A single-storey block projects from the chimney, bearing a lunette to the south elevation and detailing matching the taller structure. A similar elevation faces the east courtyard.

The west side of the first courtyard is formed by the listed public house (the former Bull Inn) immediately to the right as one enters the carriageway. The remainder of this side is lined by a single-storey brick range of early 20th-century date with tiled roofs and four hipped dormers, interrupted by a broken join. The south end of the courtyard is closed by structures of this build, with roofs partly collapsed at the southwest corner.

At the southeast corner of the site are king post trusses of early 20th-century date. One roof features a louvre. A single-storey open shed of two bays stands here, with a lathe to the facing west gable and a ventilation tile to the roof. The brick piers supporting the roof take the form of four half rounds.

The east range of the east courtyard is dominated by a picturesque grouping of tile-roofed one and two-storey buildings. The southernmost building has a facing gable and broad eaves, followed by a single-storey structure with a pair of gabled dormers; these two are very likely circa 1900.

Moving north in sequence is a spiky Victorian Gothic structure with a date stone indicating 1876 and bearing William Paine's initials. Its architectural pretence suggests it may have been the yard office. A gable end with a broached stack stands to the north of this range, followed by a single-storey range incorporating some 18th-century timber framing. Here the rear buildings to numbers 32, 34 and 36 abut structures specified in the list description for numbers 40 and 42 Market Square.

Numbers 16 to 46 (even) form a group.