The Plough

The Plough

This is a public house with a historic core dating to around 1600, substantially extended over subsequent centuries. The building consists of three distinct sections strung along Reading Road, with extensions from the early 19th century to the south and a substantial northern brick range and western extension added by 1898.

The historic core is timber-framed with both brick and lath-and-plaster infill, while later extensions are of brick. Clay roof tiles of varying dates cover the whole building.

The plan of the historic core is symmetrical with two bays divided by a central stack over two floors, containing two public rooms on the ground floor and two bedrooms above. South of this is a single-storey pitched extension added prior to 1840, which now forms the southern part of the restaurant area. A 1960s link block connects this to pre-1840 outbuildings housing WCs. To the rear west wall of the historic core is a dual-pitched range functioning as the pub kitchen. The two-storey northern range built by 1898 is square in plan, with two interconnected lounge bar rooms to the east and part of the kitchen and public WCs to the west at ground-floor level, and a dining room (converted from two bedrooms) above. A cellar beneath the northern range broadly corresponds with the floor plan of the eastern rooms.

Externally, the most substantial portion is the two-storey northern range of red brick with a symmetrical principal elevation to the junction with Plough Lane. This is formed of three bays with sash windows set under segmental arches and a central gabled porch retaining original chamfered timber posts, boarding, clay tiles and leaded side windows. Paired bands of blue brick run above and beneath the windows, continuing round the Plough Lane and Reading Road elevations. To the Reading Road elevation is a central public entrance covered by a gabled canopy with worked timbers and clay tiles matching the porch form, flanked by further sashes under arched heads at both levels. The shallow pitched roof is hipped to both sides with two stacks to the west.

The central bays of the historic core have rendered walls and a clay-tile roof with a pair of gabled dormers with casement windows set either side of the central brick stack. A canopied central entrance is flanked by a bay window with sashes to the north and a mullioned casement to the south. The lower-set south extension bay is also rendered with an end stack and a matching mullioned casement to the centre of its front wall, indicating that the casements from the historic range also date from the early 19th-century phase.

The southernmost single-storey structure added pre-1840 has a double-hipped roof of principally red brick laid in Flemish bond with blue headers. A replacement door flanked by two early casement windows are set off to the north end of the elevation.

To the rear elevation facing Plough Lane is a dual-pitched range set off the central bays of the historic core. This was added in the 19th century and is of red brick with openings to both bays set under segmental brick arches, probably rebuilt at the same time as the northern range which was completed by 1898.

The historic core interior has a central lobby entrance with separate plank-and-batten doors to left and right and an arched passage cut through the central brick stack. The passage was later blocked to create an alcove as part of work in 2021-22. The left south room was extended through an additional bay built in the early 19th century, meaning much timber-framing to the southern gable-end wall has been removed, though the tie beam remains with open mortices showing its original form. The back west wall has visible timber-framing with a corner wall post on a sole plate with a curved upper brace and several wall studs to a middle rail. The spine beam and joists, laid on their ends, are both chamfered and stopped in alignment with the walls and stack in both bays. Stairs up to the attic rooms are in the kitchen extension block to the rear of the bar in the northern room, replacing what was probably a winder stair set behind the stack. The brick stack has open hearths on both sides, the southern blocked. There is a further brick hearth with a beaten copper canopy to the south end wall of the early 19th-century extension bay. A bar counter and servery have been inserted in the former northern entrance lobby to the later 19th-century portion as part of the 2021-22 refurbishment, replacing a 1980s counter on the west side of the north bay of the circa 1600 range. Matchboard dado panelling is fitted in the southern restaurant extension bay, which also has a boarded ceiling. At the north end of the late 19th-century range, a new set of stairs to the first-floor dining room has been inserted in place of narrower stairs that formerly connected to the publican's private apartment.

The two attic rooms to the historic core have plaster ceilings below the collar level of the truss, with visible roof structure elements including two tie beams, principal rafters, wind braces and two jowled wall posts to the south gable wall. To the south tie beam is a bevelled recess cut into its underside, indicating the position of what may have been a hoist door in the southern gable end prior to 19th-century additions. The central tie beam has been cut on its west side for ease of access to the room, but the east end is intact with mortises for studs to its north face. In the loft space are further roof structure elements including heavy purlins with bridle joints clasped between collar and principal rafters. The rafters are halved into each other, with several showing smoke blackening and some displaying carpenter's numbering marks in sequence. A complete lath-and-plaster partition runs to the sides of the stack in the loft. The upper level of the late 19th-century northern range has a dining room and separate service area created from what was formerly the publican's accommodation.

WCs are located to the southern range and the 1960s connecting block, with a further set of recently refitted customer WCs to the top end of the lounge. The kitchens to the western single-storey range have modern fittings throughout. To the north-west corner of the building is a separate, externally accessed laundry room.