Building record 1627/0/5 - Red Lion public house, Watling Street East

The Red Lion was probably built in the first half of the C17 as a lobby-entry house. It has functioned as an inn since the mid C19.

{1} Identified by South Northamptonshire Council as being a building of historic and/or architectural significance.

{2} Reasons for currently not Listing the Building
CONTEXT
Historic England has been asked to assess the Red Lion in Fosters Booth, Northamptonshire for listing. This has been prompted by a planning application to demolish the building and replace it with five detached houses and garages.
The Red Lion is not in a conservation area.

HISTORY AND DETAILS
The Red Lion was probably built in the first half of the C17 as a lobby-entry house; a plan form where a central front door opens into a lobby with back-to-back-fireplaces behind and stairs beyond. The shallow pitch of the roof indicates that it has probably been rebuilt or radically altered. The original central chimney stack has been removed and red-brick stacks inserted at the gable ends, a common C18 or perhaps C19 change. The Red Lion has functioned as an inn since at least the mid-C19. Documentary sources from 1840 show that the landlord, William Butcher, also provided wheelwright’s and blacksmith’s services. A front porch and an extension on the north-east side of the building have been added in the C20.
The Red Lion is constructed of ironstone rubble, with some wide banding of limestone rubble. The shallow pitched, slate-clad roof has red-brick chimney stacks at the gable ends. The two-storey, three-bay building has a central C20 front door and C20 projecting gabled porch. Three-light mullioned windows light the ground and first floor of the first bay and the middle bay above the porch. The mullions have been covered with cement render. The upper windows retain moulded hoodmoulds. The windows in the third bay have been replaced with casements which have wooden glazing bars and lintels.
The current floor plan of the building shows that it does not retain any fireplaces. One of the ground-floor rooms has a modern, bar counter and does not retain any original fixtures or fittings. No internal historic features survive are known to survive.

DISCUSSION
On the basis of the evidence to hand the Red Lion is not recommended for listing for the following principal reasons:
* Alterations: the building has undergone significant alterations involving the rebuilding of the roof, the removal of the original central chimney stack, the replacement of two mullioned windows, and the addition of a C20 porch and extension. These changes have resulted in the considerable loss of historic fabric and have affected the architectural character of the building; * Interior: based on the limited evidence provided, it appears likely that few if any fittings, fixtures and finishes of historic interest remain.

CONCLUSION
Whilst the Red Lion has local historic and architectural interest as a C17 building that has been used as an inn since at least the mid-C19, it does not have special interest from a national perspective and should not be added to the statutory List.

<1> SOUTH NORTHAMPTONSHIRE COUNCIL, 2012, South Northamptonshire Council Survey of Significant Historic Buildings, (checked) (Catalogue). SNN108984.

<2> English Heritage, Designation Advice Report, Red Lion, 2-4 Watling Street East, Fosters Booth (Report). SNN113190.

Record last edited

Apr 1 2022 2:50PM