The Cross Keys Inn is a pub-restaurant and former coaching inn, trading since before 1750, on a corner of Midford Road in
Odd Down
Odd Down is an area of the city of Bath, Somerset, England.
A suburb of the city, Odd Down is located west and south of the city centre. The city ward population taken at the 2011 census was 5,681.
A section of the Wansdyke medieval earthwork ...
,
Bath in the
English ceremonial county of
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
. It is since 2014 a free (untied) house.
It is a
Grade II listed building, having been added to the register on 11 August 1972.
History
The current building was erected in the late 17th or early 18th century.
The site was owned by
Bath Priory until the
Dissolution of the Monasteries. It was then owned by
Hugh Sexey.
[ An inn is known to have stood on the site in 1718 when it is described in a document as "a new erected tenement or dwelling house...now a Public House on Odwood Down". At that time, the lease cost forty-two pounds and there was an annual rent charge of one pound ten shillings.][ In the mid 18th century the lease was held by ]Ralph Allen
Ralph Allen (1693 – 29 June 1764) was an entrepreneur and philanthropist, who was notable for his reforms to the British postal system.
Allen was born in Cornwall but moved to Bath to work in the post office, becoming the postmaster at ...
who was the postmaster of Bath and made a fortune by reforming the postal delivery system. The inn was situated strategically on a crossroads, with major roads going to Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, Warminster
Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-c ...
, Bath and Wells. It served as a coaching inn.
The front of the building was altered in the 19th century.[ Sexey's Hospital was the owner until 1896 when it was sold to ]Oakhill Brewery
Oakhill Brewery was a brewery in Oakhill, Somerset, England, that was founded in 1761 by John Billingsley (agriculturist), John Billingsley.
History
In its heyday the Oakhill Brewery was a major producer, known for Oakhill Invalid Stout. In 1904, ...
. It remained under the control of breweries or pub management companies until 2014, when the freehold was purchased privately.
Architecture
The building has late seventeenth century or early eighteenth century origins, and was extensively modified in the second half of the nineteenth century. It was built out of squared off rubble stone and has a roof of Roman style tiles. Originally the building was a single room deep with two gable ends and a stair at the centre of the rear wall. It had coped front and end gables, with cross saddle-stones, and an ashlar chimney stack at each end. Since then, right and left wings have been added to the building at the rear and an ashlar extension with entrance added at the front. The building consists of three storeys and a cellar, the front extension is two storeys high and has a flat roof. There is a central tall chimney stack at the front, between the two gable ends. The interior of the building is reported to have an original staircase and fireplace.[
]
See also
* Crosskeys Inn, an 18th century pub and Grade B1 listed building in Northern Ireland
References
{{reflist
Grade II listed buildings in Bath, Somerset
Grade II listed pubs in Somerset