The Red Lion Public House

The Red Lion Public House

This is a public house originally built in 1821 but substantially re-fronted in 1871 to a design by the architect W H Rawlings. The interior was also altered at this time, and decorative diamond-cut mirrors by Walter Gibbs and Sons of Blackfriars were installed.

The building is constructed of yellow stock brick with a timber ground-floor pub frontage and a slate roof. It comprises three storeys and an attic mansard storey, with the pub occupying the ground floor, a kitchen and office on the first floor, and a split-level apartment across the second floor and attic. A beer cellar is located in the basement.

The building forms part of a terrace facing Duke of York Street. The ground-floor pub frontage is three bays wide with timber facing and three separate doorways. The central entrance is a heavily moulded square-headed doorcase set on a stone plinth, containing half-glazed timber double doors with fielded panels, brass finger and kick plates, and decorative frosted and etched glass panes marked PUBLIC BAR. Above the doorcase is a transom light with foliage decoration to the spandrels and a pair of console brackets. On either side of the central door are fielded panels beneath two large plate-glass windows; decorative frosted and etched glass panels are set behind the lower halves of these windows internally. The two side doors each have a doorcase with fluted pilasters on moulded pedestals with egg-and-dart decoration to the capitals, supporting a heavily enriched and moulded surround to a fanlight flanked by small pilasters with composite capitals. A brass lantern (originally containing a gas lamp) hangs above each side doorway. A frieze bearing the sign THE RED LION, a moulded cornice, and a highly decorative wrought-iron balcony run across the front of the pub. A pub sign featuring a red lion hangs between the first and second floors. The first floor contains three square-headed one-over-one sash windows set in recessed brick arched surrounds. The second floor has a similar set of square-headed sash windows, though the central opening is blocked and now contains gold lettering reading: The / RED / LION / PURVEYORS OF / QUALITY / ENGLISH / ALES. An attic mansard storey features round-headed dormer windows, slate roof covering, and brick chimney stacks with red chimney pots.

Internally, the three front entrances now open directly into the public bar, which was originally partitioned into three separate areas (a central public bar, a small side bar, and a private bar) but has since been largely opened out. Partial partitions survive next to each side door; these are half-glazed with decorative frosted and etched glass, with the right-hand partition labelled PRIVATE BAR. The walls are fitted with highly decorative etched and diamond-cut mirrors in mahogany frames with lower fielded panels, upholstered bench seating, and drinking counters. A central servery with an original mahogany counter serves the front and rear of the bar. Drop-down panels to the front of the counter were originally used to access beer engines for servicing, with keyholes still visible. The bar back features decorative etched and diamond-cut mirrors set in mahogany surrounds carved with Corinthian pilasters, keystones, and other enrichment. A historic RED LION sign is positioned above a frieze and moulded cornice running around the room's perimeter. Two arched and pedimented doorcases carved with fluted Corinthian pilasters on pedestals flank the servery. A lincrusta ceiling and brass lamps complete the scheme. The left-hand doorway leads to a cast-iron spiral staircase providing access to the first floor and a wooden winder stair descending to the basement. The right-hand doorway opens into the rear room, formerly a private bar, surrounded by etched and diamond-cut mirrors set in arched mahogany surrounds carved with pilasters, beneath which are drinking counters and fielded panels. The basement contains brick barrel-vaulted beer cellars. The first floor comprises a kitchen and office. The second floor contains a kitchen, water closet, lounge, and dining room, with a wooden half-turn stair leading to the attic floor. The attic has two bedrooms and a bathroom. Historic panelled doors and joinery survive throughout, though many rooms contain late 20th or early 21st-century fixtures and fittings.