The Turf Inn

CARLISLE

NY4056SW NEWARK TERRACE 671-1/8/216 (East side) 22/03/74 The Turf Inn (Formerly Listed as: THE SWIFTS The Turf Inn)

GV II

Grandstand hotel for the racecourse, now public house and restaurant. 1839-40 for the shareholders, with 1874 extension by Daniel Birkett. Snecked calciferous sandstone ashlar (all dressings of this stone) on chamfered plinth with angle pilasters, string courses and cornice. Patterned cast-iron parapet railings. Sloping graduated local slate roof with central opening; formerly stepped as grandstand hence the central access; ashlar end chimney stacks. 3 storeys, 5 bays with 2-storey, 5-bay extension. The Newark Terrace facade has central double door and overlight in pilastered surround with cornice. 3 central bays project slightly for full 3 storeys. C20 sash windows in stone surrounds. The right return has external stone steps with cast-iron railings, leading to stone porch at first floor level. Extension has C20 off-centre doors under C20 wooden bracketed porch. C20 casement windows, central ones on both floors have cross mullion. Prominent machicolated chimney. The 3-storey block slopes to 2 storeys at rear; central C20 door and overlight in pilastered surround. Left C20 door and overlight in stone reveals. C20 windows in plain reveals, those on upper floor paired. INTERIOR has been gutted, except extension which retains its cast-iron columns supporting open timber roof trusses. HISTORY: Carlisle Journal (1840) stated that the building was then almost completed. Plans for the extension are in Cumbria County Record Office, Ca/E4/362. For an early C20 photograph see Perriam (1989), this shows the upper floor originally had large casement windows and a balcony. The racecourse closed in 1904 and this continued as a pub with a bowling green on the original paddock. Purchased from the State Control Board in 1972 and left unoccupied and ruinous until renovated in 1988. (Carlisle Journal: 27 June 1840; Perriam DR: Carlisle in Camera 2: 1989-: P.40).

Listing NGR: NY4030356468