The Star Inn

Summary

A public house, created in its present form in 1902 by modification and enlargement of an earlier pub. It occupies the ground floor of the original building, and part of the ground floor of the 1902 extension. The remainder of the building's interior is not of special interest and is excluded from the listing.

Reasons for Designation

The Star Inn is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a rare example of a modest and largely unaltered Edwardian public house of great character;

* it retains its simple plan-form, in which beer was provided from the cellar by gravity and sold direct from a serving hatch;

* it retains early-C20 finishes, fixtures and features including slatted benches, frosted glass, historic doors, serving hatch with lifting flap, and a rear lobby screen;

* its evolution from a Victorian public house of the same name is readily legible in the fabric.

Historic interest:

* as an example of a once-common form of simple public house that formed the centre of community life in England, but whose numbers continue to diminish;

* its survival is partly due to more than a century of ownership by members of one family.

History

Star Inn is present on both the 1866 first edition 1:10,560 Ordnance Survey (OS) map of Netherton and its revision. Both maps depict it as an extensive linear building. In 1902 much of the eastern half was demolished, and the remainder was remodelled and extended by the addition of a square, projecting range to the south-east corner. The cellar to the earlier public house was retained and the adjacent drinks service area was remodelled to provide a new servery with a hatch repositioned to better serve the extended layout. Direct access to the cellar from the servery was retained. A small rear room, partitioned off from the servery, may have formed part of the original bar parlour. The exact purpose of this space from 1902 is unclear now but was likely a publican's room or an occasional public room. At the same time within the south-east extension, a new lobby was created with a public room off to the right. There is also access to the rear domestic accommodation via a door in a rear lobby screen. The building with its modified footprint is depicted on the third edition OS map published in 1923 and is still annotated 'Star Inn'. Its footprint has remained largely unchanged since 1902.

In 1917 the building was bought by William Morton, who operated it as a small rural hotel and beer house. It remained in the same family ownership for more than a century until it closed in 2023. William Morton’s granddaughter, W V Wilson-Morton was the last Morton licensee of the public house. The interior retains several wall hangings including Morton family photographs, which emphasise its strong connection to the family. It also contains two wall mirrors including Ushers’ of Edinburgh branded mirrors to the main public room and to the right of the hatch, indicating the importance of Scottish brewers on licenced trade in the north-east of England.

Details

Public house, created in 1902 by remodelling and extension of a C19 pub. It occupies the ground floor of the original building and part of the ground floor of the 1902 extension. The remainder of the interiors are plain and not of special interest, and are excluded from the listing.

MATERIALS: sandstone and dressed sandstone, with pitched slate roofs.

PLAN: L-shaped. C19 two-storey east-west range with three-storey building of 1902 attached to its south-east corner, and various rear ranges.

EXTERIOR: the earlier range has two storeys and two bays with a ground floor entrance, a narrow cellar window to the left, and a pair of first-floor sash windows. Attached to its left gable there is a single-storey pitched roof service building with a central entrance. The later projecting range to the south-east corner has a central chimneystack and a full roof dormer with decorative finials. The end gables bargeboards and finials. Solar panels are fixed to the roof, and the windows have replacement uPVC glazing.

The south elevation has two sliding sash windows to each floor. The left return contains the ground-floor pub entrance, fitted with an original four-panelled door with rectangular overlight above and a brass plate recording the name of the proprietor 'Wm W W Morton'. The right return has scattered fenestration including an arched stair window.

The rear elevation has an attached single-storey lean-to extension and windows with replacement uPVC glazing.

INTERIOR: Small entrance lobby with lincrusta lined walls, which are painted above. Panelling and doors are timber, probably painted pine. The public room opens off to the right of the lobby and is entered through a door with frosted-glass upper panels protected by three metal bars to each side. The room is simply detailed with bare slatted fixed wooden seating along all sides, and a 1950s replacement tiled fireplace. A large Edinburgh Pale Ale mirror is affixed to the chimneybreast. A narrow, rectangular service area lies to the left of the vestibule; this has a service hatch with a panelled front and a wooden hatch flap looking over the lobby. A wooden door in the rear partition wall of the servery with frosted-glass upper panels opens into a small, plain partitioned rear room, which is lit by a small-paned window using borrowed light from the servery. The west end of the servery opens into the cellar, with stone sconces around two walls, and timber fixed shelving. The rear wall of the lobby is formed of a panelled wooden partition with a central door with frosted-glass upper panels and a brass plate carrying the names of the proprietor and premises 'Wm. W W Morton/ The Star Hotel/ Netherton.’

The rest of the building, which houses domestic accommodation that is plain and standard for its date, and is not of special interest; it is excluded from the listing. The interior of the single-storey service building attached to the west gable of the earlier range was not inspected (2025).

Sources

Books and journals
Brandwood, G, Britain's Best Real Heritage Pubs: Pub Interiors of Outstanding Historic Interest (CAMRA) (2016),
Brandwood, G, Davison, A, Slaughter, M, Licensed to Sell: The HIstory and Heritage of the Public House (2011),
Hanson, N, Classic Country Pubs: A CAMRA Guide (1987),
Belsey, J, Heritage Pubs of Great Britain (1998),
Holland, J, The CAMRA Regional Inventory for the North East (2006),

End of official list entry