The Rose and Crown

The Rose and Crown

This public house originated around 1800 with subsequent extension. It is constructed of roughly cut and squared lias stone with thatched, corrugated iron and pantiled roofs, and brick chimneystacks.

The main range is rectangular on plan, oriented roughly east-west, with a double-depth internal plan consisting of two rooms on either side of a central through passage. A lean-to range to the west contains the former innkeeper's parlour and a store on the ground floor, with a late twentieth-century extension to the north. An attached single-storey range to the east contains the beer cellar, store, WCs and skittle alley running to the north along Pounsell Lane.

The principal elevation faces south and exhibits multiple phases of development. Central is a two-storey, three-bay range beneath a hipped, thatched roof. Openings have pointed arches with roughly-hewn stone voussoirs. There is a central front doorway with a half-glazed panelled door. Windows are iron lancet casements with leaded lights in timber frames with Y-tracery. To the west of the main range is a two-storey outshut with a tiled roof. On the ground floor it has two windows, one of which has been created from a blocked doorway; there is a single window on the upper floor. A break in the masonry indicates a further phase of development to the west, which contains two low blocked openings. The west return elevation of the outshut is blind.

On the east return elevation the phasing of the building is apparent, with the thatched range at the front and the later rear range having a lean-to corrugated iron roof. The single-storey eastern range obscures the lower part of the east elevation. The north elevation is partially obscured by the single-storey range and modern extensions. That section which remains exposed has a door and two window openings beneath massive stone lintels.

The narrow single-storey range to the east exhibits multiple phases of development and incorporates various building materials: stone, brick and concrete. To the east of the main range it is a lean-to construction supported by the return elevation. To the north there is a break in the masonry and the roof rises to a pitch. The east elevation is largely blind; the west elevation is mostly brick-built and bears evidence of extension, rebuilding and modification.

The historic plan form of the pub remains apparent internally, with two rooms on either side of a central through passage and a parlour within the lean-to range to the west. The front entrance leads into the through passage, which has a flagstone floor and dado matchboarding along the left-hand wall. An opening on the left provides access to the room known as the Piano Room; on the right an opening into the Men's Kitchen has been blocked. Further along the through passage are openings into the servery and the kitchen.

The Piano Room and Men's Kitchen are original to the pub and were refitted in the interwar period. Both have flagstone floors and matchboarded dados. The Men's Kitchen is distinguishable by the figure '2' marked on the ledge and plank door. It has a wide fireplace opening with the remains of a historic range within a narrower brick insertion, with cubbies and shelves on either side. The timber bressumer has a chamfered central section and a narrow shelf above. The window sill in this room is a very deep block of stone. The Piano Room has a 1930s chimneypiece in brick with a tiled mantle-shelf and hearth. The internal doors are panelled and half glazed.

The servery room, to the rear of the Piano Room, has a flagstone floor and shelving with hand-pumps attached. The beer dispensers include an interwar beer engine manufactured by Dalex with levers jutting horizontally out of the engine casing. There is a small bar, inserted in the 1960s and replaced in the early twenty-first century following flood damage. A matchboarded staircase leads to the first floor; in the space beneath the flight is a stone plinth with free-standing stillages. Roughly hewn joists support the upper floor.

To the west of the Piano Room is the former publican's parlour with a chimneypiece of roughly-hewn stone built upon an earlier chimneybreast. The room to the north-west was added in the 1980s, replacing earlier toilets. The first floor was not inspected.

The narrow eastern range contains functional spaces: a store, cellar, WCs and the skittle alley. The skittle alley is plastered internally with some matchboarding to the ceiling.

A timber pub sign stands just to the south of the front entrance. It comprises a timber post with a wrought iron sign; this has a frame with scrolls and the pub name with a rose and crown motif within.

The late twentieth-century games room to the north is not of special architectural or historic interest and is excluded from the listing.