The Black Horse Public House

The Black Horse Public House is a former pair of houses now functioning as a public house with a tenant's flat above, located on West Street in Hertford. Originally built in the late 17th century, the building has undergone alterations in the 18th and 19th centuries. It features a timber frame with stucco and plaster finishes. The front of No.29 has masonry lined stucco, while No.31 has a stucco ground floor and a pebbledashed, colourwashed first floor. Both sections have old tiled roofs.

The exterior consists of one storey and attics for No.29, and two storeys and attics for No.31, which includes a mezzanine floor at the rear due to the slope of the roof. No.29 is a two-bay structure with two flush-set 12-pane sash windows and a recessed six-panel door with a cornice hood. No.31, a three-bay structure, features two flush-set 2-light 24-pane wood Yorkshire sashes on the first floor and two 19th-century four-light projecting oriel bays on the ground floor, adorned with moulded mullions and lattice pattern leaded glazing. There is a central half-glazed door and an old tiled lean-to.

At the rear, No.29 has a single-storey colourwashed brick lean-to with a Welsh slated outshut, while No.31 has a yellow brick Welsh slated wash-house outshut. No.29 includes two gabled dormers with three-light wood casements, and No.31 has two gabled dormers with two-light small pane casements. The roof of No.29 features a tall red brick stack with three orange clay pots, which was extended when No.31 was built, while No.31 has a square rear stack and a substantial red brick chimney with four shafts clustered around a square central stack.

Inside, the space has been opened up into a single bar area with connections to No.29, showcasing exposed heavy section central binders and principal posts, along with 20th-century fireplaces and a bar counter from the 1960s. The upper floors were not inspected. No.31 is included in the listing for the first time.