Description

WARE TOWN

TL3514SE CRIB STREET
829-1/9/59 (East side)
14/03/74 Nos.12 AND 14
The Albion Public House

II

House, now public house, with living accommodation above. C15,
altered C17 and early C20. Timber-framed, plastered over brick
on ground floor, continuous jetty with exposed beam ends, and
exposed studs and bracing with pebbledashed plaster infilling,
on first floor of No.12, jetty carried on brackets, and beam
ends concealed, with pebbledashed plaster first floor to
No.14, at left. Old tiled roof, with cruciform red brick
chimneystack with oversailing course left, smaller stack at
right.
EXTERIOR: 2 storeys. 2 bay structure with 2 upper rooms, now
ceiled (No.12) and cross-wing (former No.14), possibly
originally of different build. Two 2-light early C20 wood
casements with leaded lattice glazing, in projecting wood
surrounds on first floor. 2 recessed early C20 three-light
wood casements, with leaded lattice glazing, and recessed
central early C20 entrance door, on ground floor. At left, in
No.14, is recessed secondary entrance and adjoining boarded
over shop window on ground floor, with one boarded over window
on first floor. Carriageway on extreme left is part of No.16
adjoining. Gabled rear projection of former No.14 with old
tiled roof, 2 storeys, stuccoed, over timber frame with brick
underbuilding. Modern flat roofed single storey rear
extension.
INTERIOR of No.12 ground floor exposed beams in ceiling show
mortices for part-partitioning of right hand (south) bay.
No.14 used as store, and closed off from left hand (north)
end, and chimneystack and adjacent stair to first floor
contained within this structure, which forms a cross-wing.
First floor central room has exposed studwork at either end,
with downward curved bracing. In addition there is a
freestanding braced tie-beam. Roof structure 2 bay crown post,
unmoulded crown studs built into partitions, with fore and aft
bracing to collar purlin, and collars. Halved and pegged
rafters, subsequently reinforced with later inserted side
purlins. Main roof extended across No.14, probably in C17, but
lower rafters, partly cut, indicate that this structure had
gabled roof at right angles to main structure. No sign of
smoke blackening throughout roof, indicating building unheated
before insertion of main C17 stack. The Albion was first
recorded as an ale house in 1845, and by 1866 had a skittle
alley in the carriageway adjoining.
(Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England): An
Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Hertfordshire:
London: 1910-: 230; Ware 25" to 1 Mile. Surveyed by the
Ordnance Survey Department: 1851-; Forrester H: Timber Framed
Buildings in Hertford and Ware: Hitchin: 1964-: 42; Branch
Johnson W: Hertfordshire Inns: Letchworth: 1962-: 96-7).

Listing NGR: TL3574214499

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• The Albion Public House official website
• Wikidata Q26516468

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair