The Red Lion

The Red Lion is originally a brewhouse and ancillary range associated with the Gild of the Holy Trinity and its adjacent guildhall. Now a public house, it is a complex building likely dating back to the mid-15th century, with a south wing extending to the rear that contained the brewhouse. A mid-16th century rebuilding of earlier work occurred, with further work to the rear of the south wing, followed by a mid-19th century re-fronting.

The building is timber framed and faced with brick casing, rendered to appear as ashlar, with a plaintiled roof to the front range and pantiles to the south wing. It is two storeys high. A corner block exhibits a jettied upper portion featuring a fine corner post with traceried carving. An adjacent jetty faces south, featuring an embattled mid rail. The 4-bay front has inset sash windows with glazing bars, a blank panel above the main doorway, and mid-20th century semi-glazed doors. A projecting wrought iron sign bracket, likely from the 19th century, is visible. Gable stacks are present on the right, and an internal stack is in the front section of the south wing.

The interior brewhouse, located in three bays of the south wing directly behind the front bay, was originally unfloored. Intact studding on the upper floor demonstrates evidence of a long range of north-facing windows with vertically-sliding shutters. A plain crown-post roof, largely intact, originally had a hipped rear gable end, with a 17th-century inserted upper floor. The original porch was two bays wide; the missing bay previously projected into the street, with fragments of its king-post roof still visible. The south side of the porch featured solid arched braces and was open to the adjoining room in the front of the south wing. The 16th-century work on the north side possesses a chamfered-joist ceiling on the ground floor. A narrow end bay contains an inserted stack. The fireplace on the ground floor has a decorative lintol featuring moulding and rope-pattern carving, while the upper fireplace has a mutilated embattled lintol. An altered plain crown-post roof is above the front range. An upper room in the front range contains a remarkable late 16th-century ceiling with interlaced moulded ribs, pendants, fleur-de-lys, Tudor rose, and leaf motifs. Two sides have a frieze of vine foliage, and a moulded beam bears the initials of George and Elizabeth Harrison. This ceiling is now divided among several rooms.

Historical records from 1463, specifically Bloodhall Manor rentals, mention a bakehouse and a brewhouse ('le Gyeylynghows') owned by the Gild. Structural drawings are documented by Mr. T. Easton, Bedfield Hall.