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116, Foregate Street, Chester, Chester, CH1 2HH
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116, Foregate Street, Chester, Chester, CH1 2HH
Grade II-listed pub, opposite Shudehill transport interchange, with a nationally important historic interior and mottled tile frontage. Remodelled about 1925 the building dates back to about 1800. Split with a lobby in front of a bar, a lounge at the rear and vault at the front; the pub can be busy most days. Free and Easy sing along and other entertainment takes place regularly and it appeals to the mature drinker and sports fans. Since our last visit sympathetic redecoration and new photographs of ‘Manchester as it was’ feature on the walls throughout the pub and are an interesting addition.
Historic Interest
Circa 1800, Grade II Listed. Historic England list entry 1379936
Three star - A pub interior of outstanding national historic importance
Listed status: II
The Hare & Hounds was given a complete remodelling in 1925 and this remains intact 90 years on. The layout is typical of many in the north of England with a room at the front and back, plus a corridor down one side which expands in the middle to form a drinking lobby in front of the servery: exactly the same arrangement can be found, for example, at the Swan with Two Necks, Stockport and the Swan, York. The pub has both front and back entrances and their vestibules have grey-blue tiling. Inside, the corridor/lobby and front room have mottled brown tiling. All this tiling is very similar to that at the Britons Protection. Both rooms have fixed bench seating but the rear one was evidently the ‘better’ room since there are bell-pushes for table service: its 1920s fireplace still survives. The servery has an impressive array of glazed screens: the pulleys can be seen in the lobby although the lower panels have gone.
The building itself dates back to about 1800. What makes this pub distinctive is a remodelling that took place about 1925 when the bluey-brown ceramic front on the ground floor was put on. The interior is exceptionally complete - such a complete survival of this period is rare nationally and all the more so in a city centre location. On the left the entrance leads to a through-corridor which expands in the middle of the pub to form a drinking lobby in front of the servery. There are two public rooms, one at the front and one at the rear. All the woodwork is of c.1925. The corridor running from the front door in Shudehill to the rear entrance in Salmon Street is faced to half height with dark brown mottled and plain brown tiling from the inter-war period (of the same style of tiles appears at the Britons Protection, Manchester) where the remodelling was clearly done at much the same time.
The interior porches serving the front and rear entrances at either end of the corridor are lined with grey-green and cream coloured tiling. The front entrance lobby has half-glazed double doors leading to the corridor. The front bar ('Vaults') has a figure '1' on the door with a glazed upper panel and there is dark brown mottled and plain brown tiling on the partition wall that backs on to the drinking lobby and another section of tiling on the opposite wall. It has a bar counter with a plain panelled front and supports a glazed superstructure modelled to resemble sash windows with c.1925 decorative leaded glazing; and also fixed seating from that date.
The central drinking lobby has a plain counter with hatches above it and leaded glazed panels above, all from c.1925. The only things missing are the lower screens, but you can still see the pulleys that used to operate them. The c.1925 mirrored bar back-fitting remains intact. The rear room with the figure '3' on the door with a glazed upper panel retains its original fixed seating (re-upholstered in 2016 following water damage), bell pushes, a good tiled, cast and wood surround fireplace from c.1925 and a bar counter with a plain panelled front, hatches and leaded glazed panels above.
This Pub serves 1 changing beer and 1 regular beer.
Hare & Hounds, Manchester
Source: Regional
Live Music
Dog Friendly
Wi Fi
Real Ale
Real Heritage Pub
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