The Guggle

NORTHLEACH WITH WEST END SP 1114 EASTINGTON (north side) 8/135 The Guggle 23.1.52 II

Former Horse and Groom pub (including room known as 'The Guggle') now house in row. Mid C17. Coursed squared and dressed limestone. Facade raised in height in brick above upper floor windows. Slate roof to house, stone slate roof to 'The Guggle' left. Rectangular plan to the house with 'The Guggle' set back left. House; 2- storey, 2-windowed facade lit by 2 and 3-light wood casements. Part-glazed C20 front door right. 'The Guggle' left; single storey with plank door to passage right, single light with horizontal glazing bars. Interior of house part; spine beam, stone fire surround probably formerly with keystone (now removed). Doorway right of fireplace opens onto stone spiral staircase down to cellar with stone barrel vault. Semi-circular stone trough set in wall above floor level. Blocked window at rear. Former barrel shute (now blocked) below front wall of house. Cupboard under window in same room dated and initialled 'W.W. 1777'. Interior of the 'The Guggle' comprises a small room c2m square. Small C19 firegrate in wall opposite doorway from passage. Faded painting over fireplace with inscription 'MEET FRIENDLY/DRINK HEARTILY/PAY HONESTLY/PART QUIETLY', picture of a horse held by a groom above. The horse is said to be Coronation, a famous racehorse bred near Northleach. Below the inscriptions is another painting in which three men dressed in the fashion of the early C19 are playing a game of cards. The inscription and paintings lie within a cinquefoil- headed stone surround. Two small round-headed niches either side. Large cinquefoil-headed niche in wall right of fireplace, two smaller cinquefoil-headed niches either side. Two small pointed- headed niches either side of the door. Blind 2-light cinquefoil- headed panels low down either side of door. Small square niches set in each corner of the room immediately below domed dressed limestone ceiling with blind quatrefoil at centre at top. Red tile floor. Possibly once house of a mason, 'The Guggle' being intended to demonstrate the mason's skills. Entrance to 2 underground passages reputed to be in the garden (now sealed off) are probably the remains of galleries used for stone working. (Trans. B.G.A.S., 1907, Vol XXX, p3-12; and Northleach: A Medieval Town, W.C. Fallows, 1981)

Listing NGR: SP1113314786