Description

SP 08 NE BIRMINGHAM LlCHFIELD ROAD

7/10001 The Britannia Public House

10.12.91 II

Public house. 1898-1900 by Wood & Kendrick for Mitchells & Butlers Ltd. Brown glazed brick to the ground floor, buff terracotta with red-brick band between the second and third floors, red tiled roof. PLAN. Large public bar at front with smoke room behind. Large function room above. EXTERIOR. Eclectic Jacobean Renaissance style. 1:2:2:2:1 bay front, the centre 6 bays break forward in a wide, canted bay. The ground floor is faced with brown glazed bricks with inset panels of embossed tiles in the base course. Large elliptical wooden traceried window with leaded panes containing original glass. Doorways with overlights with etched glass bearing the name 'Britannia'. Above terracotta balustrades on large brackets with urn finials. First floor straight-headed windows with transoms and 2-light centre window with pilasters and pediment. Second floor with arcade of round-headed windows with keyblocks and nook shafts. Terracotta balustrade above with attic window in centre with truncated gable surmounted by the seated figure of Britannia. INTERIOR. Public bar, passage and staircase have walls entirely covered by tiles. The brown tile dado contains vertical strips of pale blue-grey embossed tiles with flowers emerging from pots; this design by Lewis F. Day and made by Maw & Co. of Jackfield. Above pale brown tiles with stylised foliage. Frieze of grey-blue and brown tiles with stylised foliage patterns. Original bar back with etched glass mirrors. Glazed wooden screen between passage and public bar and including a doorway. Mosaic floor in the passage by the stairs. Door to back room has etched glass bearing the figure of Britannia and the words 'Smoking Room'. Black and white marble chimneypiece and bell-pushes in the Smoke Room. Staircase with moulded balusters and large newels and finials. In the meeting room upstairs original fixed seating: in the centre is a seat with arm rests for the chairman at meetings of the Royal Ancient Order of Buffaloes. HISTORY. The building began as the Aston Hall Tavern in 1867 but was renamed The Britannia in 1872. Henry Mitchell & Co. bought a 99-year lease in 1896, covenanting to rebuild within ten years. It passed to Mitchells & Butlers who rebuilt it in 1899-1900.
A good example of an ambitious turn-of-the-century Birmingham public house with an impressive facade and rich tiled interior. Source: A. Crawford, M. Dunn and R. Thorne, Birmingham Pubs 1880-1939 (Gloucester, 1986), pp. 90-1.

Listing NGR: SP0878989517

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26527588

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.

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