Description

WARE TOWN

TL3514NE BALDOCK STREET 829-1/7/31 (East side) 08/05/50 No.26 The Old Bulls Head Inn with attached former assembly rooms and stables (Formerly Listed as: BALDOCK STREET No.26 The Old Bulls Head Inn)

GV II

House, now public house with living accommodation above. C16 altered and extended C17, carriageway adjoining formed C19, and major extensions constructed late C19. Interior ground floor refurbished and opened out 1980s. EXTERIOR: 2 storeyed 2 bay early C16 building with continuous jettied first floor to west elevation. Old tiled roof above wide eaves overhang with cornice carried on corbels and paired out profiled consoles, with red brick chimneystack adjoining carriageway. Front attic dormers, now removed, added to west elevation. Jettied first floor carried on curved brackets, with flush fascia covering projecting ends of joists. Studs exposed, with colourwashed pebbledashed infilling. Twin projecting oriel bays c1600, with curved and moulded spandrel below. Wood window frames of mullion and transom pattern with ovolo mouldings with egg and dart ornament to transoms and mullions with raised edges. Modern plain fixed glazing and undivided opening casements. Ground floor has stuccoed facing beneath jetty, with masonry lining. 2 canted oriel bay windows; left hand mid C19, closed, with glazing bars, carried on 3 cut brackets; right hand C18, with sashes, carried on 2 cut brackets. Left hand half glazed door, C19, with flush lower panels, central twin leaf doors, half glazed with lower flush panel, C19. Central C18 wrought-iron bracket with ornamental overthrow for hanging sign, top raised mid C20. Tall carriageway to right with paired gates, formed after 1836, through north bay of No.24 adjoining (qv). Plastered front above fascia and moulded cornice with C20 three-light wood casement window. 2 storeyed gabled rear wing with attics added to east C17, including a staircase. Large rear 2 storey offshoot, of yellow brick with red dressings, a Welsh slated roof, irregularly placed sash windows, and a central lantern light, was constructed late C19 along the northern boundary to accommodate an assembly room. Beyond is a range of C19 stables, one and 2 storeys, yellow brick with red rubbed arches and a Welsh slate roof. INTERIOR: opened out on ground floor, with exposed beams. Large inglenook fireplace to right, C18, with bolection moulded surround, restored 1988. 2 bay roof with tall square section crown posts, with fore and aft bracing supporting the collar purlin. Halved and pegged pairs of heavy section rafters. Although bearing the name of one of the most historic Ware inns, recorded in 1572, this is not the original site, which was in Middle Row on the north of the High Street. No.24 Baldock Street became an inn C18, and is recorded in 1823. However, the formation of the carriageway after 1836 enabled the inn to expand around the rear yard. (Heath C: The Book of Ware. A Portrait of the Town: Chesham: 1977-: 59-60; Hunt EM: The History of Ware: Hertford: 1986-1946: 97; The Buildings of England: Pevsner N (rev. Cherry B): Hertfordshire: Harmondsworth: 1977-: 380; Smith JT: Hertfordshire Houses. Selective Inventory: London: 1993-: 194-5; Perman D: Ware UD. List of buildings of special arch or historic interest: 1993-: 11; Ware 25" to 1 Mile. Surveyed by the Ordnance Survey Department: 1851-; Forrester H: Timber Framed Buildings in Hertford and Ware: Hitchin: 1964-: 42; Smith JT: English Houses 1200-1800. The Hertfordshire Experience: London: 1992-: 144).

Listing NGR: TL3560614570

External Links

• Wikidata Q26512130

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Recommended Books

• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
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  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas