Chappells Tavern

The Chappells Tavern, formerly premises occupied by the Co-operative Society, was built in 1892 by JY McIntosh for the Dalton in Furness Co-Operative Society Ltd, with J Garden acting as builder. The building is constructed of coursed, squared limestone with red sandstone dressings, and has a slate roof. It has a two-storey, 3:1:4-bay facade which wraps around the corner of Nelson Street and Chapel Street, and is symmetrical around the corner entrance, although with an additional bay on the right return. Bays 2, 4, 6, and 8 project slightly, and all but bay 4 have shaped gables. Large quoins are present, alongside architraved cross-windows with 9-pane transom lights. The corner entrance, now a window, has an architrave and the date 1892 within carved foliage, flanked by pilasters that support a dentilled segmental pediment. A continuous sill band runs along the single-light windows, with a dentilled eaves cornice and broken segmental pediment topped with large ball finials. The entrance to Nelson Street in bay 2 features an architrave and recessed double doors with sidelights, and oculi are positioned above between three pilasters, with a dentilled cornice crested by scrolls. An apron panel sits below the 1st-floor window, while an incised ashlar panel and moulded sill are found at a miniature attic window set within an aedicule; its triangular pediment forms the base of a corniced stack. Bays 1 and 3 have large shop windows with stained glass in decorative margin-glazed transom lights, with architraves and dripmoulds. The first-floor windows are linked by a moulded sill band and cut a string course, with dentilled eaves cornices. Copings are present on the left-hand gable end, with a hipped roof over the corner entrance. The Chapel Street facade differs by including a contemporary door through the right-hand shop window, two ridge stacks, and a fourth bay with a vehicle entrance under a shouldered lintel. Inside, limestone wall plaques in the lobby from Chapel Street display the names of the Co-Operative Society committee, the architect, and the builder. The original wooden staircase features turned balusters, square newels with carved finials, and a modillioned and dentilled cornice in the stair hall.