Building record 6/5 - Old Red Lion, The Green, Willaston

<1> English Heritage, 2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 475732 (Digital Archive). SCH4666.

Two houses, later public house, now single dwelling. Dated 1631 with nineteenth century alterations; restored and converted for domestic use c.1974. Timber-framed on stone plinth, with plastered panels and timber barge boarded gables; slate roof with rebuilt brick stacks.

EXTERIOR: two-storey, four-bay front, left end bay jettied and gabled. Exposed framing consists of eighteenth-century panels of small framing with small angle braces to gable and passing braces to main facade. Right of centre door is studded and divided into vertical panels by beads. Renewed timber mullioned windows, some flush and some slightly projecting, all with rectangular leaded glazing. Tablet under the eaves has the inscription `I.B. M.B.' and date.

INTERIOR: exposed beams and ceiling joists but substantially adapted to modern use during the 1974 rehabitation.

<2> Bryan, E.C., 1975, Willaston's Heritage (First Edition), p.19-20, 29-30 (Book). SCH3708.

Originally probably a single private dwellinghouse, it was occupied for a period in the eighteenth century as two cottages. At the beginning of the nineteenth century it became the Red Lion until 1928, though the landlord remained resident until the buildings restoration in the early 1970s. During this restoration, evidence was revealed that there are three phases of construction to the building. The date plaque may denote the date of the addition of the gabled wing, rather than the initial date of construction.

<3> Bryan E.C. & Morris D, 1997, Willaston's Heritage (Second Edition), p.38-40 (Book). SCH3852.

In 1822 a licence granted or renewed for the Red Lion. It closed in 1928, with the final tenant and remaining resident, his widow leaving in 1962. Now fully restored.

<4> Cheshire County Council, 1972, Conservation Stage II Report Willaston Neston Urban District, p.69-70 (Report). SCH3706.

The Old Red Lion, formerly a pair of cottages, is a timber framed building erected in 1631 by a member of the local Bennett family. In 1928 it ceased to operate as a public house. In 1962 an application to demolish the building and erect a new licenced premises was refused. The building was old in 1972 for restoration to a private dwelling.