The Albion Public House Battersby Lane Warrington

Public house and attached outbuildings. 1896 with late C20 alterations. By William and Segar Owen for the Greenall Whitley brewery of Warrington. Red brick with sandstone and terra-cotta dressings beneath a Welsh slate roof covering. Free Renaissance style. PLAN: Courtyard plan with public house occupying the street corner to the left, and the attached range of outbuildings enclosing the service courtyard to the right. PUBLIC HOUSE FRONT (East) ELEVATION: 2 storeys and attics, 4 bays with wide advanced Dutch gable to left. Canted bay window to ground floor and principal entrance to right with ashlar surround to doorway with integral sidelight, all beneath a shallow-arched overlight, with massive brackets to either side supporting a flat canopy. 6-panel door. Above, 4 shallow-arch-headed windows with terra-cotta surrounds, one blind, the other 3 with small panes to the upper part of each frame. Gable apex above with single attic window, terra-cotta copings, pilasters and cornice. Segmental pediment with finial to top stage. Set-back range to right with 2 windows with divided transoms, and blocked doorway to right with sub-divided overlight. Diminutive gable further right with 2 small windows to street elevation. Deep banded and bracketed eaves cornice. Tall brick chimney with decorative terra-cotta capping. SIDE (South) ELEVATION: 5 bays with central entrance bay delineated by narrow pedimented gable with pilasters. Doorway and sidelight within massive ashlar surround, both with arched overlights. 3-light mullion and transom window above, and 2 windows to gable apex. Mullion and transom windows to each side of doorway, the 2 to the right each of 2 lights, that to the left of 4 lights. Further left, a single storey lean to with Dutch half-gable. INTERIOR: Some modifications to plan form, but evidence of original room layout still clearly visible. Interior fixtures include fixed bench seating, principal staircase with turned balusters, carved newel posts and turned balusters, and marble hearth surrounds. ATTACHED RANGE OF OUTBUILDINGS TO NORTH: Stepped stable and cartshed range to right with attached boundary wall incorporating entrance gateway and gatepiers, extending southwards. Taller stable part with gabled loft canopy to taking-in door, with flat arched opening and glazed and louvred windows below. Lower cartshed with wide flat-headed opening. Shallow arch-headed opening to street gable. A substantial and richly-detailed late C19 public house and outbuilding complex, demonstrating the substantial investment in high quality premises, including a purpose-built service courtyard, and in the skills of a notable architectural practice, by an influential regional brewing company.