Red Lion Inn, including rear yard

Red Lion Inn, including rear yard

A hall house, now an inn, of pre-17th century origins with subsequent alterations.

The building is constructed of gritstone with buff sandstone dressings and a stone flag roof. It stands on the east side of the former marketplace, which rises towards the castle and parish church. The inn has a C-shaped plan, comprising a two-storey front range with rear wings to either side.

The west-facing façade is two storeys of coursed squared rubble. The left two bays are of 19th-century date, built in lighter-coloured stone and slightly taller than the adjoining section, with paired eaves corbels. These bays contain paired, stacked windows with flush wedge lintels and projecting sills. At the right is a ridge chimney stack with scored render, positioned considerably forward of the main roof's ridge.

The right-hand section dates to the 18th century and comprises three bays. From left to right these contain: stacked tripartite windows with squared surrounds and mullions; a low entrance with a window above, both having squared surrounds; and a blocked doorway with two windows all within a shared surround with jambs extending to ground level, surmounted by a square-surround window at lower level. The coursing and stone of the right-hand bay differs from the adjacent walling. To the left of the entrance is a recess below the eaves for a former sign. The entrance has impost stones forming long quoins to either side. To its right is a projecting chimney stack in the front pitch with scored render. Above the ridge, a square stone chimney stack of the rear pitch is visible. At the far right stands a rendered short ridge stack.

The building is abutted by others to the north and south. At the rear, two-storey wings project at either side. The rear façade shows modern cement strap pointing and consequential damage to the soft sandstone.

The south wing is gabled to the east with quoins and a square-surround window. At ground floor it extends further east, that section forming part of separately-listed outbuildings. Its north façade contains at ground floor a large blocked doorway at the right with a massive timber lintel, a smaller blocked doorway with square surround, stone steps ascending to first floor, and a blocked square-surround window. The first floor has a doorway, a tall window and a short window, all with square surrounds. In the angle with the rear of the main building is an angled recess, possibly a blocked former window or intended to preserve light to the abutting 17th-century window of the rear façade of the main building. That window, positioned above the rear entrance with its stone surround, contains four lights with chamfered mullions and a double-chamfered surround. To its right the rear façade has two 19th-century sash windows with a stone dividing mullion, below a four-light 18th-century square-mullioned window. A modern timber pergola stands in the angle with the north wing.

The north wing is also gabled and steps down. The western two bays are of random coursed squared stone with windows and a doorway having squared surrounds, and quoins to the angle. The lower, set-back eastern part is of slobbered rubble with a first-floor doorway and window of squared surrounds and a ground-floor three-light window with square mullions; the east gable end is rendered. Abutting this is a single-storey lean-to with stone flag roof, projecting to the north with a blind stone façade.

The interior plan has been largely opened out but key features remain. At the centre is a large 17th-century stone chimneybreast backing onto the original cross-passage, with a fireplace on the north side featuring a moulded lintel (slightly damaged) and jambs, and a heavy moulded cornice. Abutting this is a timber-framed heck. This room also has stop-chamfered beams. The room to the west has chamfered, hewn beams. At the east end of the south wall is a fireplace with stone jambs and a massive segmental-arched lintel, with a stone above inscribed FC/1681 and decorated with flower designs in relief. The south room also contains reused timbers and another 17th-century fireplace in the south face of a chimney stack backing onto the entrance passage. This fireplace has quoined jambs and a cracked lintel with four-centred arch, all carved with simple mouldings.

The first floor retains partial timber framing. The roof structure contains hewn timbers including king posts, tie beams, clasping purlins, arched wind braces and some rafters. The cellar contains a stone stair, former entrance steps from the east, hewn ceiling beams, a segmental brick vault, flag floors and several wall niches with stone shelves.

The former farmyard to the rear retains granite setts and its surface of river cobbles between the rear wings is thought to survive beneath a raised area of more recent stone flags. It also retains an undisturbed historic well with a circular head of coursed stone standing approximately 1 metre high.