The Red Lion is a pub in the city centre of

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, England. It is claimed that it is the oldest building in the city used as a pub, however it has only been licensed since the 19th-century. A legend claims that

Dick Turpin Richard Turpin (bapt. 21 September 1705 – 7 April 1739) was an English highwayman whose exploits were romanticised following his execution in York for horse theft. Turpin may have followed his father's trade as a butcher ear ...

once escaped through the pub's window.

History

The building was originally a house in the 15th-century. There is a bread oven in the front bar, which the pub claims dates from the 13th-century, and on these grounds, it claims to be the city's oldest pub. However, the building only officially became a licensed pub in the 19th-century. It was originally named The Three Cups, however the name was changed in 1805 to avoid confusion with another pub nearby with that same name on

Foss Bridge There are nine bridges across the River Ouse and eighteen smaller bridges and passages across the narrower River Foss within the city of York, England. Bridges over the Ouse The earliest bridge, built by the Romans, linked Stonegate (the ''v ...

. The pub claims that highwayman

once escaped through a window of the pub. However, there is no evidence that Turpin ever visited the Red Lion. In the 19th-century, the pub was located behind the Black Horse pub and was set back from the street, accessible only through Walmgate. In 1912, the street of Merchantgate was constructed immediately north of the pub to connect Walmgate with the newly built

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...

street and improved access to the pub. The pub was designated as a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

building on 14 June 1954.

Architecture

The original part of the building is to the north-east, built in the 15th century as a house with a first floor hall and other rooms below, although it was built on 13th-century foundations. It appears to have been truncated at the north-west end, and is now one-and-a-half bays long. The south-eastern end of the building was rebuilt around 1600, and an attic was also inserted. In the 17th century, a lower wing was added to the south-west, in two stages, with a ground floor of brick. There were further extensions in the 18th century, and a new front was added in the 19th century. The building is timber framed, but has been largely reconstructed over the years. The windows are 20th-century. On the first floor, there is an access between two bedrooms, linked to the chimney, which has been described as a

priest hole A priest hole is a hiding place for a priest built in England or Wales during the period when Catholics were persecuted by law. Following the accession of Queen Elizabeth I to the throne in 1558, there were several Catholic plots designed to remo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Red Lion, The Grade II listed houses Houses in York Grade II listed pubs in York Walmgate