Former Lamb and Flag Coffee Tavern

Former Lamb and Flag Coffee Tavern, now commercial premises and residential accommodation, 1879-1880, by James Hicks.

MATERIALS: coursed rubble killas stone, granite and Bath stone dressings, with a slate roof.

PLAN: rectangular plan with a canted north-east corner.

EXTERIOR: the former coffee tavern is designed in a Gothic style over two storeys and a basement. The main elevation (east) is three bays wide, symmetrical except for the north-east corner where there is a tower. The elevation is detailed with moulded impost-bands and sill-bands, with a tall, gabled central bay. This breaks forward slightly and contains a wide ground-floor entrance which has a glazed transom and margin-lights around C20 timber double-doors. The entrance is flanked with set-in colonettes under an arched head with roll-mouldings. The extrados is inscribed OPENED BY LADY JANE VIVIAN MAY 13 1880. Foundation stones to the plinth either side of the entrance are dated December 2 1879. The entrance is topped with an ogee arch flanked by carved stone panels with ivy-interlaced raised lettering inscribed COFFEE to the left and TAVERN to the right, between which a bracket carries a carved-stone lamb holding a flagstaff. Flanking the entrance on the ground floor are two large fixed-pane windows with decorative heads; these are C20 replacements. Below are two-light basement windows, and above on the first floor are three casement windows with arched heads, divided by colonettes, flanking a central large three-light window with multifoil head within a two-centred arch. The gable above has flanking pinnacles and an apex finial.

The north-east corner of the building is chamfered, with steps up to a doorway with a C20 door set within a two-centred arch with a central cinquefoil and spandrels either side with the carved-stone letters T and H (for Temperance Hall) interlaced with ivy. On the first floor is a corbelled oriel with windows like those at the front, and a flat-topped conical roof. The north elevation has a large mullion and transom window at first floor level, with paired arch-heads; there is a further paired window to the basement. The west side of the building directly abuts the Buttermarket, and the south elevation is blind.

INTERIOR: altered.