Building record 3884/0/140 - Former Fox and Hounds Public House, Gold Street , Gold Street

Early 18th century house, partially occupied by a beer-seller in the late 19th century and known as the Fox and Hounds by 1940.

{1} Former public house. Early C18. Regular coursed and banded limestone and ironstone with slate roof. Originally 2-unit plan. Two-storey, two-window range of C20 casements at ground floor and C19 casements with glazing bars at first floor; all under wood lintels. 4-panelled door to left of centre under wood lintel. Ashlar gable parapet and kneeler to left and brick gable parapet to right. Brick and stone stacks at ends. C19 extensions to rear. Interior has stopped chamfered ceiling beams and rafters and open fireplace with bressumer.

{3} Public house - building shown on early Ordnance Survey maps - 18th century (or earlier) substantially sized cottage later converted into public house. Uncertain whether it would have been public house in early part of the century. Film 21 photo21.

{4} The former public house, The Fox and Hounds, began its life as a simple domestic building. As
originally built it had three comfortable rooms on each floor. Three retain evidence indicating that
they were provided with fireplaces. The larger of these, the inglenook, survives largely intact with
only minor alterations. Of the other two, the one located against the east gable wall and that in
the bedroom above, nothing now remains of the fireplace openings. It is possible that the small
south range room also had a fireplace against its southern gable, but since that whole wall has been
removed this cannot now be determined. Evidence for the location of the original connecting doorway between rooms G2 and G3 survives in the form of the complete door frame and adjacent to it the chamfered newel post for the staircase. Associated with the latter is a shallow scoop within the thickness of the west wall to accommodate the winding stair treads and a blocked window set between the ground and first floors which would have lit that space.
There remains nothing of other internal fixtures or fittings which relate to the early phase of the
building. Between 1894 and 1898 the building changed use to become partly a commercial property and was occupied by a beer seller, though it was not apparently a fully licensed public house. It is presumably to accommodate stock, customers and perhaps a larger family and staff that the building was enlarged with a series of brick-built rooms being added against the south side. By 1940 the building is listed as The Fox and Hounds, a name which it retained until its recent closure. During at least seventy five years as a public house, extensive alterations have been made, robbing the earlier spaces of some, or all, of their earlier features. Some have been retained, such as the inglenook, since that feature provided a traditional focal point. Elsewhere within the building, function has prevailed and little now remains to indicate the former or original use of any of the other spaces.

{6} Undated photo;

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 8/103 (checked) (Digital archive). SNN102353.

<2> 1986, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest ("Greenback"), G04 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN100394.

<3> Ballinger J., 1999, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Wellingborough (Industrial), (unchecked) (Digital archive). SNN100290.

<4> Prentice, J. and Soden, I., 2016, The former Fox and Hounds Public House, 32 Gold Street, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire 2016, checked (Report). SNN110406.

<5> Crank, N. (Editor), 2017, South Midlands Archaeology (47), p. 38 (Journal). SNN111362.

<6> Photographs of buildings in Wellinborough (Photographs). SNN115387.

Record last edited

Aug 30 2023 12:40PM