The Red Lion Public House, Ampney St. Peter, Gloucestershire

Description

1176/0/10009

AMPNEY ST PETER
The Red Lion Public House

04-MAR-08

II
A public house and house, dating from the C18 with attached outbuildings and a C20 extension to the east.

MATERIALS: the building is constructed from coursed stone rubble, with dressed limestone quoins and window surrounds, under a Cotswold stone slate roof. The C20 extension is in reconstructed stone with Cotswold stone slate roof.

PLAN: the main range and extension are of double depth plan, with attached single depth outbuildings to the east and west.

EXTERIOR: the main range is of two storeys and three bays, a symmetrical front with a central doorway. The gabled entrance porch appears to date from the C19, and has a Tudor arched opening and integral wooden bench seating. The wide doorway houses a C19 part glazed door. This is flanked by two-light side hung timber casement windows, to ground and first floors. To the east is a double depth, two storey extension dating from the C20, which is not of special interest. To the west is an attached outbuilding with three single plank doors, now housing lavatories.

INTERIOR: the public rooms are at the front of the house, to either side of the entrance hall. The hallway has tongue and groove panelling to full height, and a sliding hatch to the tap room; at the rear, it gives access to the kitchen and cellar. The floor is of hardwood parquet, and there are four-panel and plank doors. The tap room is sparsely appointed: there is a stone corner fireplace, dating perhaps from the late C19 or early C20. The walls are panelled with tongue and groove to dado height. To the left wall are shelves for glassware, one shaped to allow a ceramic gin barrel to be stored. Beer is dispensed from two beer engines simply affixed to the rear wall of the room, with barrels stores in the cellar below, accessed by a short flight of stone steps from the rear of the hallway. The room has a red terracotta tiled floor, and has a timber lined window seat and panelled shutters. The room to the left of the hallway was formerly the family kitchen. It has tongue and groove panelling to dado height and fixed bench seating on two sides; there is a C19 timber fire surround, and a window seat and shutters similar to those in the tap room.

HISTORY: The Red Lion appears from stylistic evidence to date from the C18, and the present owner, who holds most of the documents relating to its history, believes that it was built in part as a beer house. It was certainly in use as a beer house by 1792, when the Red Lion, together with six cottages and the adjacent land, was sold for £1,200. By 1851, the Red Lion was owned by John Howse; when he died in that year, Howse's assets were sold at auction, including "that old established public house", the Red Lion. The pub was sold for 600 guineas to John and Edwin Cook, owners of the Tetbury Brewery. The Post Office Directory of 1856 records a John Spencer as the publican. In 1887, James Wilkins took over as landlord, and he stayed until his death in 1939, an impressive 52 years' tenure, during which he raised a family at the pub. The current landlord recalls that during his tenure, the second public room was still the family kitchen, though also used by the public. James was succeeded by his son, Horace Wilkins, who had been born at the Red Lion. Mr Wilkins remained the landlord until 1975, when the Red Lion was purchased by the current owner and licensee. The pub had been tied to the Tetbury Brewery from its purchase in 1851 until 1913, when it was taken over by the nearby Stroud Brewery. In the 1970s, Stroud Brewery amalgamated with other local breweries to form West Country Breweries, which was subsequently taken over by Whitbread, one of the dominant national breweries. Despite this, there were few alterations: the building was extended in the mid C20 to provide enlarged living accommodation, and lavatories were created in the adjoining outbuilding, accessed only by leaving the main building. The Red Lion remains in use as a public house. (Reported For Sale, future uncertain, 14/11/2016)

SOURCES: Campaign for Real Ale Pub Heritage Group, The CAMRA National Inventory: Pub Interiors of Outstanding Historic Interest (2003)

Geoff Brandwood, Andrew Davison and Michael Slaughter, Licensed to Sell - The History and Heritage of the Public House (2004) 23, 25, 95

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION:
The Red Lion public house is listed at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:
* An intact and very rare example of the earliest phase of the evolution of the public house, which has been in continuous use as a public house since the C18
* Research by CAMRA has demonstrated that this is one of only fourteen public houses nationally not to incorporate a bar counter and other later alterations and embellishments
* The plainness and simplicity of its little-altered interior, the retention of its early plan form and its modest and largely domestic fixtures make it of clear special interest in the national context

Reasons for Listing

The Red Lion public house has been listed at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:
* An intact and very rare example of the earliest phase of the evolution of the public house, which has been in continuous use as a public house since the C18
* Research by CAMRA has demonstrated that this is one of only fourteen public houses nationally not to incorporate a bar counter and other later alterations and embellishments
* The plainness and simplicity of its little-altered interior, the retention of its early plan form and its modest and largely domestic fixtures make it of clear special interest in the national context

External Links

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