Harbour Bar, 469-473 High Street, Kirkcaldy, Kirkcaldy, Fife

Entry Name: Harbour Bar, 469-473 High Street, Kirkcaldy

Listing Name: 469-473 (Odd Nos) High Street, Harbour Bar and Outbuilding with Boundary Walls

Listing Date: 27 February 1997

Category: C

Source: Historic Scotland

Source ID: 390742

Historic Scotland Designation Reference: LB44048

Building Class: Cultural

ID on this website: 200390742

Location: Kirkcaldy

County: Fife

Town: Kirkcaldy

Electoral Ward: Kirkcaldy East

Traditional County: Fife

Tagged with: Pub

Description

Earlier to mid 19th century, rebuilt at ground enclosing pend early 20th century (before 1924); outbuilding 18th century. Plain early burgh tenement in irregular terrace incorporating later well-detailed public house retaining rare jug bar. Ashlar and painted cement-render. Dentilled cornice and almost full-width fascia over bar forming 1st floor cill course, eaves lintel course and raised margins. Roll-moulded doorpiece. Stone-mullioned windows and chamfered arrises at ground.

FURTHER DESCRIPTION: panelled 2-leaf timber public house door to centre with broad tripartite to right and bipartite to left, further door at outer left. Corniced fascia above with traditional lettering and cast-iron ship's lamps. Regular fenestration above with smaller window inserted above door at 1st floor and 2 piended dormers.

Fixed windows with toplights and some decorative etching to bar; plate glass glazing elsewhere, in timber sash and case windows to 1st and 2nd floor. Red tiles. Broad cavetto-coped ashlar gablehead stack with cans to SW.

INTERIOR: well-detailed interior incorporating panelled vestibule with narrow 2-leaf part-glazed door to rare jug bar, public bar to right and lounge to left. Boarded dadoes; mahogany mirrored back gantry with fluted pillars and pilasters to public bar, hatch opened to lounge bar mid 20th century; fluted front to bar counter; panelled ceiling with decorative plasterwork thistles, rose and clover to lounge bar; 2 tiny hatches from 'jug' to bar.

OUTBUILDING: 18th century outbuilding (former sailmaker's loft converted to brewery), single storey with cellar probably (former laigh floor). Harled and slated.

BOUNDARY WALLS: coped rubble boundary walls to rear.

Statement of Interest

The well-detailed Harbour Bar, which is situated between the original High Street route and the harbour, boasts a rare survival with its tiny jug bar and has an interesting history having developed from a tenement incorporating a ship's chandler. The building is of early origin and originally had a centre pend with houses to one side and a ship's chandler to the other. The chandler sold rum and this may be the origin of the first public house on site which was operating by 1896 and was known as Todd's Bar, named for the owner. The gantry and jug bar now occupy the site of the pend. By 1924 the bar had changed its name to The Harbour Bar.

The former sailmaker's loft on the route of the old High Street, following a westerly course from Malcolm's Wynd, is now (2008) used by the Fyfe Brewery, established in 1995. There are similar early buildings at Nos 465-467, Malcolm's House and 475-479 (both listed separately, HB Numbers 44047 and 44049).

List description updated as part of Public Houses Thematic Study 2007-08.

External Links

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