Pub Heritage Cemetery Hotel
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Greater Manchester - Rochdale
Three star - A pub interior of exceptional national historic importance
Listed Status: II
470 Bury RoadRochdale
OL11 5EU
Tel: (01706) 645635
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/126272137423432
Real Ale: Yes
Lunchtime Meals: Yes
Evening Meals: Yes
Nearby Station: Rochdale
Station Distance: 2500m
Public Transport: Near Railway Station (Rochdale) and Bus Stop
Bus: Yes
View on: Whatpub
Largely unchanged since Edwardian times, the pub takes its name from the cemetery across the road. The entrance porch and drinking lobby are richly tiled with lovely Art Nouveau-style wall panels and friezes in rich shades of green, blue and orange. The front left parlour (no. 2 on the door) is expensively fitted-out with four booth-style seating areas, created by substantial part-glazed mahogany baffles with classical columns. This splendid room also sports a distinctive fireplace with a rich blue ceramic surround and a wooden overmantel: there is also one original etched and cut window. On the front right, a small pool room (no. 1) is rather plain, with fixed seating, a window advertising ‘Crown Ales’, and a full-blown range with the maker’s name on it (but surely this room was never a kitchen?). The snug (no. 3) retains fixed seating with a baffle, but its fireplace is a replacement. All three rooms have attractive Art Nouveau-style decorative glass in their upper parts. In the heart of the pub is the drinking lobby. Its counter seems original and the glazed panels above also seem to be old. The bar back, however, is modern. The unsympathetic wallpaper throughout is an aberration of the last two or three years. In 2020 the back panels of the fixed seating in the pool room were replaced and all wooden surfaces were painted a blue-grey colour; elsewhere they were painted black,
This ominously-named corner pub takes its name from the nearby cemetery - nothing more worrying than that! It was built in the later nineteenth and given a face-lift a little late, probably in the Edwardian years. From the front door there is an inner porch with ‘Cemetery Hotel’ mosaic floor and a dado of rich vibrant various shades of green with cream tiling up to the ceiling finished off with a row of green tiles at cornice level. The dado of rich vibrant various shades of green continues throughout the lobby and into the drinking lobby in front of the servery. The tiling on the wall opposite the servery has been suffered from some movement to the property. Within the tiling are very decorative tiled panels of shades of green and orange. The bar back appears modern, but the bar counter could be old, if not Edwardian, and was painted over in black in 2020.
There are three rooms. The most impressive of the three rooms is the front left Parlour with ‘2’ on the door. It is expensively fitted and includes very good seating, which was repainted back in 2020. There are four seating areas created by substantial part glazed mahogany draught screens with classical columns. Either side of the entrance door are two imposing mahogany draught screens with leaded glass panels in the top part. The room has a distinctive turquoise tiled/ceramic fireplace (which is showing signs of wear) with a good wood surround including a mirror. The room has retained an original etched front window with the wording ‘Wines & Spirits’ but the two side windows are poor replacements for the original ‘Crown Ales’ and ‘Cemetery Hotel’ etched windows lost in recent years.
The small pool room on the front right with a ‘1’ on the door is by comparison extremely plain with a wood block floor, bare fixed seating all around the room where the back panels were replaced in 2020 and all wooden surfaces painted a blue-grey colour. The room still retains its original ‘Crown Ales’ front window and there is a range fireplace, which normally indicates the room was formerly a kitchen, and would pre-date the Edwardian refit. The small snug on the rear left has ‘3’ on the door, retains old fixed seating with a draught screen (all repainted black in 2020) but it has lost its fireplace and the windows are poor replacements of the original ‘Crown Ales’ and ‘Wines & Spirits’ etched ones. There is a (modern) hatch for service to the side of the servery.
Full Description
There are three rooms. The most impressive of the three rooms is the front left Parlour with ‘2’ on the door. It is expensively fitted and includes very good seating, which was repainted back in 2020. There are four seating areas created by substantial part glazed mahogany draught screens with classical columns. Either side of the entrance door are two imposing mahogany draught screens with leaded glass panels in the top part. The room has a distinctive turquoise tiled/ceramic fireplace (which is showing signs of wear) with a good wood surround including a mirror. The room has retained an original etched front window with the wording ‘Wines & Spirits’ but the two side windows are poor replacements for the original ‘Crown Ales’ and ‘Cemetery Hotel’ etched windows lost in recent years.
The small pool room on the front right with a ‘1’ on the door is by comparison extremely plain with a wood block floor, bare fixed seating all around the room where the back panels were replaced in 2020 and all wooden surfaces painted a blue-grey colour. The room still retains its original ‘Crown Ales’ front window and there is a range fireplace, which normally indicates the room was formerly a kitchen, and would pre-date the Edwardian refit. The small snug on the rear left has ‘3’ on the door, retains old fixed seating with a draught screen (all repainted black in 2020) but it has lost its fireplace and the windows are poor replacements of the original ‘Crown Ales’ and ‘Wines & Spirits’ etched ones. There is a (modern) hatch for service to the side of the servery.
