The Former Three Gardners Public House

THE FORMER THREE GARDENERS PUBLIC HOUSE

A former public house on North Street, Strood, dating from around 1700 with late 19th and 20th-century alterations. The building was fire-damaged at the time of re-inspection in 2010.

The structure is built in red brick using English and Flemish bond, with stucco rendering to the front elevation. The roof is covered in concrete tiles and windows are timber sliding sashes.

The building follows a single-pile plan with a stair tower to the rear. There is a large end stack to the north and a smaller end stack to the south. The original ground floor plan has been lost, but the position of the stair, principal entrance, and chimney stacks suggest the building originally comprised a central entrance hall with stair to the rear and rooms leading off to the left and right. At first floor and garret level the layout is likely to be partially original, with rooms leading from stair landings. Existing partition walls between rooms are largely modern, though at first floor two sections of in-and-out panel partitioning, partially fire-damaged, remain.

The front (west) elevation is rendered in stucco with quoins to the corners and around four irregularly-spaced first-floor two-over-two sash windows. The ground floor features a fire-damaged pub frontage with Venetian windows either side of a central doorway, topped by a fascia and cornice with corbels.

The rear (east) elevation shows exposed brickwork with vitrified headers in simple decorative effect. It is dominated by a hip-roofed stair tower in English bond; the main elevation is built in Flemish bond. Small extensions at ground floor and to the stair tower at ground and first floor partially conceal this elevation. At first floor are narrow casement windows to the far left and right.

The ground floor is largely open-plan, though the stair tower has been enclosed and the lower part of the main stair removed. A winder stair to the north of the stair tower provides access to the landing between ground and first floor. A modern flat-roofed extension to the east contains kitchen and toilet facilities. Above ground floor, the principal feature is the substantial open-well stair in the stair tower, with a closed string and barley-twist balusters supporting a wide, deeply moulded handrail. The stair has been lost below the first landing and is slightly truncated at attic level, but survives well between these points. At first floor there are sections of dado panelling in the stair-well. A number of fireplaces survive, though fire surrounds generally do not. Cupboards either side of the substantial northerly first-floor fireplace were badly fire-damaged at inspection. The right-hand cupboard, lit by one of the narrow casement windows, was possibly a wig cupboard.

The building may originally have been constructed as a town house for someone from the merchant or professional classes, or as a small inn. It appears to have been in use as an inn by the end of the 18th century. The 1791 Universal British Directory lists victualler John Miller at the Old Three Gardeners in Strood. References to the Jolly Gardeners and Three Jolly Gardeners appear in licensed trader lists and directories for early 19th-century Strood. The 1841 census lists victualler Samuel West at the Three Gardeners Inn in Cage Lane (North Street was known as Cage Lane until the mid-19th century). Although this is the first reference linking the name 'Three Gardeners' to North Street, map and written evidence suggest the building has been in use as licensed premises since the late 18th century.

Licensed premises in the 18th century were not necessarily purpose-built; many were houses whose owners or tenants gained a license to sell beer or wine, often letting out rooms. The public house as a distinct building type, with external shopfront and internal bar counter, evolved in the 19th century, when many existing establishments were remodelled. The front elevation of No. 4 North Street was remodelled in the late 19th century to include a ground floor pub-frontage. The 1866 Ordnance Survey map, prior to this remodelling, shows a short flight of steps at the centre of the front elevation, indicating the principal entrance was historically in the same position as currently. The 1866 and successive maps show the building had a range of outbuildings to the rear until at least the mid-20th century.

The building suffered a significant fire in early 2009, resulting in considerable internal damage, particularly to the ground floor.