Description

LANCASTER

SD4761SE PENNY STREET
1685-1/8/226 (West side)
Farmers' Arms Hotel

GV II

Pair of hotels (one formerly The White Cross), now a single
hotel. c1900, altered C20. Possibly by Austin and Paley, in a
Northern Renaissance style. Sandstone ashlar on the ground and
first floors with squared coursed stone above, and slate roofs
with coped gables. Reverse L-shaped plan on corner of
Aldcliffe Road, with 2 entrances to Penny Street and one to
Aldcliffe Road. Chimney stacks in various positions.
3 storeys, and 13 bays of irregular width which can be divided
into 2 symmetrical blocks. The block at the corner of the 2
roads is almost symmetrical around the wide diagonal bay,
which has chamfered quoins, a cornice-like band between the
ground floor and the first storey, plus a sill band on the
first floor, all under a tall Flemish gable; this rises to a
small scrolled pediment, which is topped by a ball finial and
carried by short pilasters flanking a tiny rusticated arch
borne on a tapering pilaster. The ground floor of this bay has
a 7-light mullioned and transomed bow window, and there is on
the first floor a cross-window, topped by a broken segmental
pediment and flanked by 2 single lights with a transom, all
above an elaborate apron. The second-floor window, like those
under the other gables, has been altered by the insertion of a
concrete lintel and wooden mullions.
This central bay has on either side a narrow bay with, on the
ground floor, a square-headed and keystoned doorway, set under
a segmental pediment and flanked by single windows with a
transom. Above the right-hand doorway is a canopy. There is a
cross-window on the first floor and, on the second floor, a
similar window which rises into a segmental dormer. Beyond
this narrow bay, on either side, is a wide bay which rises
into a gable which, to the right, is a simpler version of the
central one and, to the left, a much simpler one without the
arch and pilaster. The left bay has 3 windows on the ground
floor and 2 windows above, mostly cross mullions. The right
bay has 3 windows on the ground floor, and a single 3-light
cross mullion window above.
The right-hand block facing King Street is symmetrical about a
wide central bay which rises to a gable like the one on the
right of the left-hand block. On the ground floor of its
central bay is a very wide entrance (now subdivided into
three) under a richly moulded flat arch carried on console
brackets. On the first floor is a cross-window flanked by
single lights with a transom, with an elaborate apron beneath
and a small scrolled pediment above. On either side of this
central bay on the first and second floors there are
rusticated pilasters, which are repeated between all the
windows on these 2 storeys. This central bay is flanked by
3-bay wings, which have on the ground floor a round-headed
window, flanked by short windows under a segmental pediment.
These windows have probably original stained-glass with floral
motifs: the 2 windows to the left of the door are labelled
'Commercial Room' and 'Lounge Bar'. On the first floor there
are a cross-window with a single transomed window on either
side, and on the second floor a similar arrangement of windows
without transoms.

Listing NGR: SD4773561295

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26489664

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Huddersfield in 50 Buildings