ENN111221 - Queens Head Inn, 2023 (Building recording)

In August 2023 a Historic Building Record was made of a former Public House, called the Queen’s Head in the Northamptonshire village of Sutton Bassett. The recording was carried out in accordance with a planning condition, prior to the building’s demolition and site re-development. The record presents a descriptive account of the building’s structural characteristics, an analysis of its chronological development, as far as may be ascertained from ‘as found’ observations, and research of its historic context. It is plausible that the building originated as a stone-built, 2- bay, 2-storied dwelling, rhomboidal in plan, with central chimney. A substantial oak mantel beam on the ground floor had curved-step chamfer stops, a style of decoration that dates broadly from the late 16th century through to the mid-late 17th century. The beam was probably in situ. It is likely that the public house was established as an alehouse in the first half of the 18th century, named in honour of Queen Anne (1702-1714). The building, which is largely rough-cast rendered, had a deceptive appearance, its principal elevation having undergone modification on two occasions, first in the late-19th century and then in the 1920s. The structural evidence revealed a core L-shaped building with cross-gabled roof, whose origin precedes the Victorian era (i.e. pre-1837). This corroborates with the earliest chain-surveyed map, of 1802, which depicts a building occupying the same footprint as the standing L-shaped structure. A non-exhaustive search of archives proved the existence of the alehouse as early as 1749, and the continuity of licensed victuallers or publicans from the 18th century onwards. The report provides a descriptive and illustrative account of observations, by means of digital photographs and scale drawings, aided by a broad phase plan.