Listed Building record MDR10799 - THE OLD DOLPHIN PUBLIC HOUSE, QUEEN STREET, DERBY

THE OLD DOLPHIN PUBLIC HOUSE, QUEEN STREET, DERBY, Late C16, restored early C20. The Dolphin is a two-storey timber-framed house with a garret in the gabled northern bay; behind, the first bay of a three-gabled addition remains, the other two bays having been demolished in 1928. A range of single-storey outbuildings runs back from the south end of the house, and includes a 19th century brewhouse; these were not examined. Tradition has it that the Dolphin was built in 1530, although the only positively early 16th century fabric is in the ceiling of the entrance passage. The house has a traditional sub-medieval plan, of a form expected between 1550 and 1650, although there could have been an earlier building on the same footings of which the passage is all that remains. There would probably have been a detached kitchen at the rear of the plot. Between about 1600 and 1630 the house was extended by a three-bay, three-storey range, although it is not clear whether this was built as a separate house and incorporated later. There were three rooms on each storey and it was probably timber-framed. Two-thirds of this part was destroyed in 1928. It is unclear at what date the Dolphin became an inn, and, given its central situation on the main road through town, it may have been built as one. (1) From the National heritage List for England: '893/2/227 QUEEN STREET 24-FEB-77 THE OLD DOLPHIN PUBLIC HOUSE II Public house. Late C16, much restored in the early C20. Timber-framed and rendered. Clay tile roof, partly with old tiles. PLAN. Corner site. L-shaped. A passage on the right (formerly a public thoroughfare), has rooms and staircases Two bars on the Queen Street front with a lounge and a small snug. Central bar. Restaurant upstairs. EXTERIOR. On left gable at right angles to the street. A further gable on the return. Extensive half-timbering on the first storey but this dates from an early C20 remodelling. Casement windows of 2-, 3-, and 4-lights, all C20. INTERIOR. In the restaurant upstairs large C16 beams exposed. In the snug and lounge an early C20 remodelling including thefull-height panelling. Glazed screen between the servery and snug. Parts of the wall seating probably C19. Bell-pushes in the bar on the street corner. HISTORY. Derby's oldest pub with the licence said to date from 1580. Listing NGR: SK3520236561 Legacy'. (2) The Old Dolphin Inn is a timber-framed inn claiming a foundation date of 1530, and was certainly in existence by 1618. It has a relatively unspoilt interior, but the exterior timber is a replacement of 1912. The original timbers rapidly decayed when a Regency stucco covering was rashly removed in 1903. A 17th century range on Full Street was demolished in 1953. (3)