Site of 19th century public house, The Cups, 214 Wantz Road (EHER 49868)

Now destroyed. The site of a 19th century brick-built public house with slate-covered roofs. The Cups Public House had been serving the local community since at least 1843, until it closed to the public on 2nd February 2014. It was subsequently demolished at some time between 2019 and 2023.

November 2019. Heritage assessment. The Cups Public House, a Freehouse (not tied to a particular brewery), is located at the end of Wantz Road and had been serving the local community since at least 1843, closing to the public on 2nd February 2014. The building offered a large public bar, with three small rooms to the rear on the ground floor (though a dividing wall had been demolished at the time of the survey it presented as two rooms). Living accommodation was on the first floor. Within the grounds are two separate outbuildings. Between 2012 and 2019, the internal fittings and fixtures were stripped, including the bar, and some internal walls removed. The building has also suffered from long-term water ingress as a result of the loss of part of the roof. The main building is brick-built with a painted render finish and has projecting bay windows of the ground floor, covered with a shallow pitched roof which runs the length of the front elevation. The roofs are covered with slate, apart from that to the single storey left hand side structure which is covered with concrete tiles. The building originally had two main entrances (to the private and public bars) but these have been filled in and new high level windows inserted. A new entrance, to the right hand side of the building was created as part of the new single storey addition that forms the Ladies WCs. The Cups Public House appears to have been extended and altered on an ad-hoc basis throughout its lifetime. The main structure and construction techniques of the building indicate that the building was constructed in the early 19th century. The main public house was built and extended to the rear prior to the first OS map in 1869-1873, which shows a square building labelled the ‘Three Cups’ comprising of a single storey element to the left-hand and right-hand side of the main two-storey building. At this point there is no wall in front of the Ladies WC. The main public house was surrounded with more outbuildings, which have gradually been lost, resulting in the current concrete block outbuilding being constructed. At the time of the site visit, the building, currently in a dilapidated condition, was still formed of a main two-storey building, with single storey additions to either side. The site was overgrown and there was limited access due to the building’s structural integrity. The exposed shell revealed that the main building had undertaken numerous alterations over its lifetime. The sign of the Three Cups is the armorial bearing of the Ancient Guild of Salt Makers and Distillers. The building reflects the growth and development of public houses within England, which offered an important social and community role within a neighbourhood, and the decline and final closure of the pub in the 21st century. Architecturally, this building is of a humble, polite style, common for many public houses across England. <1> Google Earth imagery shows the building was demolished at sometime between when it was recorded in November 2019 and April 2020. It is replaced by a terrace of six houses. <2>