The North Star Inn public house

The North Star Inn

A public house of 17th, 19th, 20th and 21st century date, standing near the centre of the village adjacent to the Causeway, a medieval raised pavement of probable 14th century date with a cobbled stone surface running west to east.

The original building is timber framed with brick infill and a tiled roof, single-storeyed with an attic. The plan is T-shaped, with a spinal range running north-south and a 19th century western wing housing the function room and entrance passage. Later additions include brick walling, a 19th century lean-to and urinal at the southern end, and a brick stack at the northern end. The eastern flank has a 19th century porch and a 20th century extension to the ground-floor cellar with a window for serving drinks to the garden. There is no bar counter; drinks are served directly from the cellar at ground-floor level through a stable door opening onto the central room.

The exterior walling is whitewashed, comprising large-framed timber with brick infill and angle braces alongside painted and rendered brick. The east front features an unusually large 19th century porch with wooden walls and a lean-to roof with original fixed bench seats, with a plank door leading to the central bar area. Two paired windows with three-by-three panes are at the centre, and to the right is the projecting cellar extension with a three-light casement. Above the centre is an attic dormer with a flat roof and two casement lights. The southern gable of the original range is overlaid at ground floor by a 20th century lean-to kitchen extension and urinal walling, with a single and double casement in the gable. The northern gable has a two-light attic casement and a stack with a wide lower stage, possibly of earlier date, narrowing to an upper body of 19th or 20th century brick.

The rear of the original range has at its southern end a ground floor window and doorway and a blocked window. At the northern end is a two-light ground-floor casement with a two-light dormer to the first floor, the latter having a star and the initial 'N' in relief to its gablet. At the centre is a projecting 19th century wing with a blank gabled western end. Its northern flank has a doorway at left and three-light and single-light casements to the right. A 20th century recessed panel on the western end shows a figure in 18th century dress carrying a tray of beer, with the wording 'MORLAND / ABINGDON'. The southern side of the wing has a door to right and a two-light casement at left with a stepped buttress to left of centre.

The central room contains three wooden settles of mid-19th century date arranged to form an enclosed group at the centre, with boarded backs, shaped armrests, and top rails supporting iron uprights and horizontal rails rising nearly to ceiling height which formerly supported curtains. The settles are surrounded by passageways on the east and north sides. The 20th century fire surround on the southern side has brick sides and an oak frame; the substantial chimney breast suggests there was formerly an inglenook on this side of the benched enclosure. Flooring is of clay tiles, with a central spinal beam having chamfered edges. South of the central room is a narrower service room sharing the central chimney stack, leading through to the 20th century kitchen. At the northern end of the ground floor are the cellar room and north bar, substantially rebuilt in 2003 but incorporating salvaged chamfered ceiling beams and timber framing from the original structure with old shelving and metal bracing to ceiling timbers. The northern bar has exposed timber-framed walling with brick infill, a 20th century fire surround, and vertical plank panelling to dado height on the western wall.

The 19th century western wing has timber-framed walls with painted or rendered brick infill. A cross passage at the eastern end provides entry to ground floor rooms either side. To the west is a function room with floorboards, picture rail, and a 20th century fire surround. All rooms have metal numbers on their doors or panelling, probably a requirement of the licensing magistrates. The attic storey was not inspected but is believed to have boarded walls and ceiling.