Former White Hart And Stable To The Rear, 34 Boroughgate

Former White Hart and Stable to the Rear, 34 Boroughgate

An inn with attached stable and coach house to the rear, of mid-18th-century date with possible earlier origins, together with alterations and additions dating from the 19th, 20th and early 21st centuries.

The building is constructed of red sandstone, rendered and painted, with internal walls of sandstone rubble and roofs mostly covered in graduated Westmorland slate. The plan comprises a rectangular original range oriented north to south, possibly deriving from an earlier cross-passage house, with rectangular rear extensions including a probable 18th-century stair turret. An attached covered passageway at the north end provides access to a rear yard with outbuildings.

The main elevation faces west on to Boroughgate, on a site that slopes gently to the north. The building presents three storeys and three bays beneath a pitched roof with dressed stone end stacks, painted quoins, and painted and dressed flush window and door surrounds. The entrance, set off-centre, is square-headed with tethering rings to either side and fitted with a six-panel door, flanked on both sides by a two-light flat-faced mullioned window, now boarded over. At the lower right end stands a boarded yard entrance with a lintel that slightly overhangs the jambs and a tethering ring to the left. The first and second floors each contain three window openings fitted with two-over-two horned sliding sash frames. A pub sign is affixed to the upper left of the building. The rear elevation comprises extensions of varying heights, including a two-storey lean-to stair turret with Westmorland slate roof and an enlarged first-floor window serving a metal fire-escape. To the left, a later lean-to extension with Welsh slate roof contains an entrance to the extended covered passageway, fitted with a four-panelled door (cut down from a six-panelled original) and a blocked fanlight above.

The attached rear stable and coach house is a two-storey structure of similar construction. It features a large blocked segmental-arched coach opening with alternating jamb stones, flanked to the right by a square-headed entrance with similar jambs and to the left by a single-light window and a pair of two-light windows in plain stone surrounds, at least one retaining earlier alternating jamb stones. At the left end are an entrance with alternating jamb stones and a later blocked entrance. The first floor contains six regularly spaced 19th-century inserted window openings.

To the front of the building is a paved split-level forecourt defined by a low stone wall with double-chamfered copings and late-20th-century metal railings.

The interior at ground-floor level comprises a single large space on two levels created by opening out original rooms to either side of a full-width central passage. A central strip of late-19th and early-20th-century geometric floor tiles marks the position of the former central passage, with scars in the east wall and ceiling indicating the sites of its former partitions. Five substantial ceiling beams run from east to west. Early-20th-century fixtures and fittings include a stone four-arched fireplace against the south wall (with a blocked doorway to the right), remains of panelling to the left, and fixed bench seats at each of the east windows. A cellar beneath the northern part of the room contains a set of original but modified sandstone steps; visible ground-floor beams and joists within the cellar are of early form and may date from the late 17th century. Within the covered passageway to the rear yard is an arched feature, interpreted as a fireplace flue or support. The rear extension comprises three small rooms. The south room is thought to be the former back kitchen, with a fireplace bearing a large stone lintel in the east wall and an inserted stair to the first floor of the rear stable range. The central room houses a dog-leg staircase in its original position, and the north room contains a large fireplace with the range removed.

The upper floors were not inspected but are understood to retain historic features. A blocked opening appears on the half-landing to the first floor. The three first-floor front rooms have exposed and boxed-in tie-beams; one room retains the hearthstone of an earlier fireplace and another contains a re-used, stripped six-panel door. The exposed floor of the most southerly rear room retains some original wide floorboards. The second floor has exposed and boxed-in tie-beams, and the roof structure comprises four simple tie-beam trusses with double purlins; some timbers show evidence of re-use, though the rafters are of 20th-century date.

The ground floor of the attached rear stable range was not inspected but is understood to have been converted to apartments. The first floor contains a large modern kitchen at the west end with the remainder of the space finished with a 20th-century decorative scheme and fittings.

The upper floors of the White Hart at 34 Boroughgate form a flying freehold above part of the ground floor of the neighbouring property at 36 Boroughgate.