Pub Heritage Waggon & Horses
Pub Heritage Group have recently carried out a regrading of Real Heritage Pubs - click here for full details
West Midlands - Oldbury
Three star - A pub interior of exceptional national historic importance
Listed Status: II
17A Church StreetOldbury, Town Centre
B69 3AD
Tel: None
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/WaggonandHorsesOldbury
Real Ale: Yes
Nearby Station: Sandwell & Dudley
Station Distance: 600m
Public Transport: Near Railway Station (Sandwell and Dudley) and Bus Stop
Bus: Yes
View on: Whatpub
A corner pub built about 1900 by Holt's Brewery in the brick and terracotta style so typical of the area. When it comes to internal tiling, it's in the top league anywhere. On the corner, as usual, is the public bar with mainly cream tiles but also colourful bands lining the walls and a richly-treated bar back no doubt dating from the building of the pub. The ceiling is remarkable for being clad with sheet copper tiles, unfortunately painted over more than once. The side entrance leads to a fabulous tiled corridor, with a hatch to the servery, which makes an L-shape round a smoke room with original fixed seating, plentiful bell-pushes and a 1930s tiled and wood surround fireplace.
A corner pub built by Holt's Brewery of Aston in 1890 in the red and terracotta style so typical of Birmingham with a polygonal turret on the corner. There is evidence of the original ownership in painted and terracotta features on the exterior, and in the remaining etched glass of the exterior windows and door panels, including Holt's 'squirrel' - a feature which was later adopted by Ansells. The side entrance leads into a splendid drinking passage separating the front public bar and a separate rear room. The L-shaped passage has colourful Victorian tiled floor and floor to ceiling tiled walls which feature tiled panels in brown, yellow, gold and blue-green with a band at dado level of brown, green and gold tiles and yellow ones above to the cornice, which has another band of brown and yellow tiles. The existence of shelves indicates the old tradition of passageway drinking still exists here. There is a small counter, almost a hatch for serving this area and the smoke room. Note the etched glass panel in the inner door which has the wording 'Smoke Room & Club Room'. The floor tiling continues all the way around to the toilets at the rear and there is a panelled dado. Upstairs is a function room with modern bar fittings and brick fireplace, but 7 of the original 9 etched windows survive.
The front bare boarded public bar has floor to ceiling tiling with colourful tiles on the dado and yellow ones above with a band of brown tiles at cornice level. The original bar counter and fine mirrored bar-back featuring slender columns with capitals remain with few modern additions. The rare copper ceiling has been painted over and the original benches remain. The room would originally have been divided by partition walls - note the doors on the corner (the vestibule looks like a modern addition) and on Church Street. A doorway from the passage leads to the smoke room which is a small bare boarded room with re-upholstered Victorian fixed seating all around, a baffle by the door and another halfway along the seating on the window side and above the seating is a panel with a large number of bell pushes. The tiled and wood surround fireplace looks to date from the 1930s. There is another Holt's window, but another has been lost in recent years and not replaced.
Full Description
The front bare boarded public bar has floor to ceiling tiling with colourful tiles on the dado and yellow ones above with a band of brown tiles at cornice level. The original bar counter and fine mirrored bar-back featuring slender columns with capitals remain with few modern additions. The rare copper ceiling has been painted over and the original benches remain. The room would originally have been divided by partition walls - note the doors on the corner (the vestibule looks like a modern addition) and on Church Street. A doorway from the passage leads to the smoke room which is a small bare boarded room with re-upholstered Victorian fixed seating all around, a baffle by the door and another halfway along the seating on the window side and above the seating is a panel with a large number of bell pushes. The tiled and wood surround fireplace looks to date from the 1930s. There is another Holt's window, but another has been lost in recent years and not replaced.
