Building record 15087 - The Greyhound Public House, High Street, Farndon

<1> Henderson Heritage, 2020, The Greyhound, High Street, Farndon: Heritage Assessment, R4426 (Client Report). SCH8864.

A heritage assessment was produced in 2020 in advance of refurbishment of The Greyhound public house, High Street, Farndon. The Farndon Tithe map of 1840 records a Public House and Garden in this location. The building as owned by Richard Dutton and occupied by Thomas Clarke and recorded Trade Directories of 1857. Subsequent landlords were Thomas Townsend (1860), Abraham Thomas (1874), Samuel Thomas (1878), William S. Locke (1883) and Matthew Barrow (1891). At this point The Greyhound offered letting bedrooms and was affiliated to Northgate Brewery, in Chester. By 1902 John Fleet was landlord. According to historic photographs, The Greyhound was a simple Georgian double fronted building, rendered with a slate roof.

In 1905 the Greyhound was destroyed by fire and it was re-built. During the last quarter of the nineteenth century the Garden City movement had gained momentum, creating garden cities, suburbs and villages, as an early form of town planning. Architecturally these were based on principles of good quality vernacular style housing, in an Arts and Crafts style. The Greyhound has many characteristics that can be attributed to this style of architecture. Its hipped roof, tall dentilled chimneys, dentilled eaves and octagonal dormers embellish the red tiled roof. The walls are white pebbledash with a large red brick plinth, a sill band and timber vertical framing between the ground and first floor to break up the mass, with brick dentilled quoins to add interest. The principal windows are bay windows that provides a triple outlook to the south west, south and south east, which also brings sun and ventilation into the interior. They are small paned and domestic in character. This style of building is not typical in Farndon, but it complements the strong and varied architectural character of seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth century buildings which add to the rich architectural quality and appearance of the conservation area.