26 Carlisle Street, Wheatsheaf Public House

This exuberant Arts and Crafts style pub was created by refronting a Victorian end-terrace in 1907. It now stands alone, but retains all the character of the period in its faience facing and cheerfully painted timber casement windows. Detail abounds, in the form of a heavy dentilled cornice to the pedimented front gable, idiosyncratic wheat-coloured lettering and both engraved and etched glass. The building sports the same corner doorway as the overwhelming majority of the pubs in the area, supported by a wheat coloured column on a high green base, with mosaic to the floor below. A dual-aspect window at 1st floor level gives a nod to the more elaborate oriels and turrets elsewhere, whilst retaining the modest proportions of the building. To the rear even the coal hole and yard doors remain. It bears similarities to Crane House at New Quay, North Shields which was built 3 years earlier. This is a truly special period piece, and the survival of all this detail is all the more remarkable given the loss of most of the buildings around. MATERIALS Red brick, glazed faience, timber, slate ARCHITECT J Oswald & Son? DATES 1907 (re-fronted) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION The original Wheatsheaf was owned by John Barrass & Co. In 1914 the building was worth £2000. The pub name probably comes from the fact that the Wheatsheaf was the symbol of the Company of Brewers. LOCAL LIST