The King's Head PH (former County Club)

The King's Head Public House (formerly the County Club) Nos. 7 & 9 Agincourt Square

This Grade II* listed building comprises three adjoining structures on Agincourt Square, each with distinct origins and architectural character.

The leftmost section (No. 7), the former Monmouth Bank, dates from around 1740. It is a four-storey building with a stucco front featuring rusticated quoins, floor-bands and key-blocks, concealed behind a plain parapet. The ground floor contains three semi-circular headed sash windows and a doorway in a rusticated arcade with plain pilasters, arranged W:W:D:W; the doorway is a late 20th-century insertion, as the bank originally had no door visible by 1900 when it had already become part of the hotel. The upper two floors each have three 6-over-6 pane sashes. The centre first-floor window has an apron inscribed 'MONMOUTH' (presumably originally reading 'MONMOUTH BANK'). A board below the second-floor windows reads 'THE KING'S HEAD HOTEL'. The third floor has three 6-over-3 pane sashes. An ornate down-pipe on the right side bears the hopper lettering 'L B' (Lloyds Bank), indicating later ownership.

The central section (No. 8), the King's Head building itself, is a 17th-century structure re-fronted in the 18th century and with late 19th-century added gables. The building is rendered and painted with rusticated quoins and a Welsh slate roof. It rises three storeys with an attic and features two gables across five windows. The ground floor has two shallow bow windows and a central porch with two plain columns over the pavement. The bow windows contain triple 6-over-6 pane sashes, with a small 4-over-4 pane sash to the right. The upper two floors have 6-over-6 pane sashes with keyed heads and a band between each. Gutters are supported on timber brackets. The gables feature half-timbering with plain bargeboards; the left gable has a spike finial. Each gable contains a 3+3 pane casement.

The rightmost section (No. 9), the former County Club, was built in 1875 to designs by T H Wyatt. It is rendered and painted with painted quoins and bands, with a Welsh slate roof. The building has two storeys and an attic with a single bay beneath a gable. The ground floor contains two mullion-and-transom windows and, to the right, a plain door with a slated hood. This doorway was originally a window until recent years, though it was originally a door when first built. The first floor features a large canted oriel on timber brackets, containing a 1+3+1 mullion-and-transom window with a slate hood and half-timbered apron decorated with quatrefoils. The half-timbered gable above contains a triple 2-pane casement.

The rear elevation of these buildings, visible from St. John's Street, demonstrates their position within the ditch of the castle outer bailey, evidenced by an additional understorey on this side. The King's Head itself displays a 3-bay elevation with giant Tuscan pilasters flanking triple sashes on two floors, then sidelights (one blind on the left), further flanking pilasters, and another small triple sash within the attic entablature.

The interior has been opened out and incorporated into the King's Head bar area, creating mysterious continuous spaces with different floor levels. The upper floors were not examined during survey.