The Royal George Public House

The Royal George Public House

This is a former open hall house at Cottingham, dated by dendrochronology to 1262, with later alterations and additions including the insertion of a first floor in the early 17th century, and a late 18th-century conversion and extension to create a public house. The former open hall was re-roofed in 2000–1.

The building comprises two parallel ranges aligned north-east to south-west. The south range has three parts: a former 13th-century open hall house at the south-west end, a late 18th-century addition adjoining to the north-east, and a range added in 1920 and completely rebuilt in 1991 (not of special interest). The north range comprises a former mid-19th-century cottage at the south-west end and a former workshop to the north-east, both converted and remodelled for pub use in 1991. These are connected by a link block added in 1991. Not included in the listing are the 1991 extension at the north-east end of the south range, the former mid-19th-century cottage and workshop forming the north range (now living accommodation, kitchen and toilets) and the 1991 block linking the two ranges.

The former open hall house at the south-west end of the south range is constructed of coursed Cottingham ironstone with two raised cruck trusses encased within. It is two storeys in height with an early 21st-century gabled roof and a limestone-coped parapet at the south-west gable end. The ground floor of the north-west elevation is lit through two two-light casements to the right of a glazed door, all under timber lintels. The first floor has two two-light casements with timber lintels crossing a line of coursed ironstone representing the original height of the building before it was raised circa 1870. The south-west corner of the building is chamfered and has several courses of lower Lincolnshire limestone to the first floor. The south-west gable end is obscured at ground-floor level by an early 21st-century timber lean-to shed, but above there is a two-light casement and a central blind limestone plaque. A pebble-dashed gable-end stack, added circa 1870, rises through the apex of the gable. The south-east elevation has a three-light casement window to the ground floor and two blocked two-light window openings to the right of it. The left-hand blocked window has been completely filled with ironstone masonry, probably circa 1870, but the other retains its early 17th-century chamfered central mullion and frame, which is replicated on the first floor where it is blocked with ironstone.

The late 18th-century addition is of coursed Cottingham ironstone, two storeys in height, with a higher ridge line than the adjoining 13th-century block due to a rise in ground level from south to north. Of two bays, the ground floor has a two-light casement to the right-hand side, while the left-hand bay has been removed and replaced by a single-storey lean-to added in 1991. To the first floor there are two three-light casements. The gabled roof has lost its stack which was formerly at the south-west end. There is no south-east elevation to this block as a row of 19th-century houses has been butted up against it on that side, and no north-east gable wall because of the later addition of the north-east block. The late 18th-century ironstone extension adjoins the former open hall on the north-east side, and roofs throughout are of Welsh slate.

Interior

The ground floor room of the former open hall has a centrally placed north-east to south-west spine beam with two north-west to south-east bridging beams connecting to it, all of early 17th-century date; the square post supporting the spine beam along with the joists are all 20th-century replacements. At the centre of the south-west wall there is a plain chimneypiece with a tiled and cast-iron fire insert. To its right-hand side is a two-tier pine cupboard of circa 1870. In the north-east corner, now partitioned off from the rest of the room, is a winder stair which rises to a small landing with turned balusters and a moulded handrail.

The first-floor room has two cruck trusses, now divided by an early 21st-century ceiling. Running north-east to south-west, both trusses have collars, saddles under a ridge piece, and outer trenches for one pair of through purlins; the purlins have now been removed with rolled steel joists encased in wood subsequently added for strengthening purposes. The north-east truss is made from two trees, squared off on one side, while the south-west truss is one tree split down the middle, both with notched lap joints with square pegs to the collars. The saddles are curved on the lower surfaces and are also pegged into the ridge piece running on top of them, and in addition they are chamfered on their lower surfaces, as are the cruck blades, with setting out lines visible. The collar of the south-west truss was renewed in the 20th century. The ridge piece has mortices for 13th-century secondary rafters, all of which were removed during the circa 1870 renewal of the roof, and an edge-halved scarf joint; the latter is broken off at the tip, and the adjoining small section of ridge is missing, with a later replacement now lodged on top of it. All the 13th-century timbers are smoke-blackened above the ceiling and there is some evidence of a smoke louvre having originally been fitted. Over the cruck trusses is a softwood roof of 2000–1 date.

The late 18th-century centre block in the south range is accessed via four steps and has an opening under a 1991 rolled steel joist leading out to the west into the link block.