The Red Lion Hotel

The Red Lion Hotel is a historic building located in Wells, with parts dating from the 17th century and early 18th century. The structure is primarily made of brick with stone dressings, all covered in a colorwash, and features a Welsh slate roof behind a parapet along with brick chimney stacks.

The hotel has a front range that was originally designed with a single large room on each storey, accessed from the side through a passageway under No. 1, High Street. There is a long, narrow wing at the rear right, which has a small courtyard on the east side.

The exterior of the building stands three storeys tall and consists of two bays. The ground floor features a Doulting ashlar stone facade from the 20th century, complete with a plinth, plain fascia, and cornice, framing two 16-pane recessed bow windows alongside a pair of glazed doors to the right. Above this, the shallow canted bay windows rise to the parapet and contain plain sash windows, with the central units being four-pane and adorned with timber cornice mouldings over each window. A bold cornice runs beneath a shallow parapet, following the line of the bays below. The side elevation facing the courtyard has been modified and is rendered, featuring 20th-century timber casement windows. The building transitions from three storeys to two storeys, ending at the south with a garage that spans the entire site.

Inside, the ground floor has been extensively modified in the 20th century; the front section serves as a shop, while behind it are the kitchen and a long dining room that spans seven bays, showcasing rough transverse beams and a blocked window in the former end wall. On the first floor, there are two rooms that were formerly one, featuring a plaster cornice with egg-and-dart and vine-leaf decorations. One room includes a notable 18th-century moulded architrave around the bay window, while the front range lacks early details on this level. The wing has a pantile roof, and the roof trusses, possibly from the 17th century, have propped principals, although this has not been fully inspected. A 17th-century door made of two wide planks with a low canted head provides access to the upper level of the stair.