Albion Public House

This is an Arts-and-Crafts public house, likely dating to the early 20th century, situated on a long elevation facing Upper Gate Street and a faceted end facing Bangor Road. The lower storey is built of brick, while the upper storey is rendered with a whitened pebble-dash finish above a corbelled tile band. The roof is steeply pitched, covered in slate, and features coped gables with overhanging eaves.

The architecture is characterized by a curved angle between the two main elevations, supported by wooden brackets. An external brick stack rises through a projecting imitation timber-framed gable with barge boards and deep verge at this angle. A similar external stack is located to the right of centre on the Upper Gate Street elevation, also projecting through an imitation timber-framed gable. First-floor windows are topped with black-painted lintels.

The Bangor Road elevation has an entrance at the left end, featuring a round-headed doorway with a tile arch, a half-glazed panel door, and an overlight with thin glazing bars incorporating a central circle with crossed diagonal bars. To the right of this entrance is an iron-framed window with an elliptical shape and Art-Nouveau frosted glass. Above is a wood-framed, three-light mullioned and transomed window with leaded upper lights and a central steel-frame casement.

The Upper Gate Street elevation’s main entrance is located to the left of centre, mirroring the Bangor Road entrance in design: a round-headed doorway with a tile arch, a half-glazed panel door, and a similar overlight. Brick segmental-headed windows with dripstone, and hopper lights with frosted glass flank the entrance. Another similar window is found to the right of the stack. A vertical-ellipse shaped window, set slightly back on the left end, creates visual balance with the corresponding window on the Bangor Road front. Two further doorways are at the right end; the first is round-headed with a tile arch, but is now boarded up. The second has a round brick arch, double boarded doors with a round glazed panel featuring X-pattern glazing bars, and strap hinges. The upper storey windows on this elevation are similar to those on the Bangor Road elevation, including three-light, two-light, and three-light windows to the left of the stack, and two three-light windows to its right.

The Bangor Road entrance leads to a vestibule with a glazed tile Art-Nouveau-style dado and round-headed panel doors with a circular glazed panel. The Lower Gate Street entrance opens onto a corridor that retains original decorative tile dado. The lounge on the right retains panelled wainscot and a joisted ceiling. The original bar, with a panelled front and shelves behind incorporating a round clock by Parnell & Sons of Birmingham, is also preserved.