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Description

Summary Public house, constructed during the C17 or early C18, extended and altered in multiple phases, most recently in the late-C20. History Grantham was a settlement of considerable size by the time of the Norman invasion, with the Domesday book (1086) recording a population of over a thousand. The town’s name is listed under its current spelling in Domesday, and is believed to be of Old English origin, combining ‘Granta’ and ‘ham’ (Granta’s manor). The town lies on the Roman Great North Road (Ermine Street) from London to York, which has brought commerce and travellers seeking accommodation throughout the town’s history. The north-south road (London Road-High Street-Watergate-North Street) remains the central spine of the town’s urban plan. Notwithstanding the importance of the town’s positioning on this ancient highway, its medieval and early-modern prosperity was due in large part to wool and agriculture. The town’s historic wealth is illustrated through its principal church, St Wulfram, with its 86m-high spire, and the C15 stone frontage of the Angel and Royal inn. The town’s building stock was historically built of stone or timber, but much was rebuilt during the C18 and C19 in local red brick. The opening of the canal to Nottingham in 1797 and the arrival of the railways in 1850 and 1852 increased opportunities for trade, while an industrial economy developed with the opening of Richard Seaman and Richard Hornsby’s Spitalgate ironworks in 1810. Hornsby and Sons later became known for producing the UK’s first diesel engine in 1892 and were early pioneers of tractors and caterpillar tracks. The Black Dog Public House may have been constructed during the C17 or early C18. The establishment was known as the Black Dog by 1777 (Stamford Mercury, 29 May 1777, 3), and is labelled as the Black Dog Inn on the 1887 OS Town Plan of Lincoln. This plan also shows a rear range and a series of attached ancillary buildings running west from the principal, east range, lining the north side of the plot. These may have provided stabling and accommodation for visitors. The overall form of the building appears to have changed little since the late-C19. The long rear range was partially rebuilt during the later-C20 and an additional rear extension appears to have been added to the principal, eastern range fronting Watergate in the late-C20. Details Public house, constructed during the C17 or early C18, extended and altered in multiple phases, most recently in the late-C20. MATERIALS: the principal, east elevation is rendered (smooth on the ground floor and roughcast on the first); limestone walls visible in the carriage entrance may point to the primary building material beneath the render. The roof covering is clay pantile. PLAN: the principal, east range is orientated north-south and runs parallel to Watergate, with a linear rear range projecting to the west. EXTERIOR: the principal, eastern range is of two storeys across four bays onto Watergate, under a steeply-pitched roof punctuated by two brick chimney stacks: one, likely extended when the adjacent building was constructed in the C18, rising up the north gable wall, the other rising between the two southernmost bays. The ground floor is framed by a rendered and painted lintel, running between painted brick quoins which rise to a cornice running the length of the façade at first floor cill height. It contains an off-centre doorway with an attached, fixed, two-pane window with leaded lights, contained within a shared timber surround with a cornice. The doorway and window are flanked by two timber casement windows with leaded lights, within simply moulded timber surrounds under drip moulds. The southernmost bay contains a carriage entrance lined with limestone rubble walling, leading to the rear courtyard. On the first floor, there are three window openings with simply moulded timber surrounds containing uPVC casements. Two are of matching size and located over the ground-floor windows, while the third is smaller and located over the carriage entrance. A timber and metal hanging bracket with a late-C20 pub sign is attached to the first floor between the two larger window openings. A small skylight is positioned in the roof slope facing Watergate. Sources Books and journals Pevsner, N, Harris, J, Antram, N, The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire, (1989), 315-316 and 324 Other OS 1:1250 Map of Grantham (surveyed 1965), accessed 11 February2021 at [https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/491277/335801/13/101329] OS 1:1250 Map of Grantham (surveyed 1975-76), accessed 11 February 2021 at [https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/491277/335801/13/100765] OS 1:500 Town Plan of Grantham (surveyed 1887, accessed 11 February 2021 at [https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/491277/335801/13/100254] OS 25” Lincolnshire CXIII.16 (Grantham) (revised 1903, published 1904), accessed 11 February2021 at [https://maps.nls.uk/view/114652314] OS 25” Lincolnshire CXIII.16 (Grantham) (revised 1929, published 1931), accessed 11 February 2021 at [https://maps.nls.uk/view/114652317] Stamford Mercury, 29 May 1777, p3

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