The former Mitre Inn

The former Mitre Inn

A former public house dating from the mid-19th century, converted to a Thai restaurant around 2007.

The building comprises a three-storey rectangular principal range fronting West Street with a cellar, a lower parallel two-storey plus attic range to the rear (reduced to two storeys at the south end) with an entrance onto Friar Street, a single-storey clay-tile roofed extension from the rear adjoining 90-91 Friar Street, a flat-roofed modern extension at the western end, and another parallel brick range on the south side of the yard, possibly originally a stable block.

The principal range is constructed of white colour-washed brick laid in Flemish bond with a clay tile roof hipped at the north end and set behind a parapet with stone copings. Two chimney stacks with tall chimney pots are positioned at the south end and north-west corner. Evidence of a barrel shute on the front elevation and documentary evidence suggest the existence of a cellar with a stone flagged floor, though this was not inspected.

The symmetrical eastern frontage onto West Street displays five bays. A centrally placed entrance has modern glazed doors beneath a wide corbelled hood with a central open-pedimented feature, partly obscured by a modern facia panel bearing strap-work decoration. Ground floor fenestration comprises eight-over-one timber sash windows set in segmental openings with volute keystones. The first floor has six-over-six sashes in plain segmental openings, while the second floor features three-over-three sashes in square-headed openings below a narrow stringcourse in the three central windows; the two outer openings are blocked. An astragal cornice runs above.

The single bay on the Friar Street (north) elevation has an off-set entrance with a similar but narrower hood to that on the West Street front. Upper floor fenestration follows the West Street pattern. The rear range's single-bay elevation displays a late-19th century shop front with a recessed entrance flanked by pair of single-pane windows, framed by pilasters and a cornice supported on volutes. The first floor contains an off-centre two-over-two timber sash window in a square-headed opening. The sloping tiled roof features a gabled dormer with hanging tiles and a pair of four-pane casement windows with two-pane transoms.

The ground and first floors of the principal range have been completely refurbished as a Thai restaurant with no historic features evident. The top floor of the principal range and the interior of the two-storey range fronting Friar Street were not inspected.