Red Lion

Good quality Victorian fittings survive in this pub

Rebuilt in 1898-9 by architects Gardiner & Theobald in an eclectic Dutch-cum-Renaissance revival style. The ground floor bar has been opened out into a long, single space but originally would have had a couple of drinking areas. The columns and glazed screenwork at ceiling height straddling the room  halfway down the bar suggest a partition at this point. The date of 1900 carved into the bar-back beneath the clock is a helpful record of when the pub was fitted out. The bar-back itself has 17th-century-style detail and lots of round arches; the counter has a series of unusually detailed panels with circle motifs, and at the rear of the pub is some excellent etched and polished glass, including a re-sited panel announcing ‘saloon bar’. The ceiling decoration is very pleasing work with square panels and delicate swirling foliage. Thegantry structures sitting on the counters are modern additions.