Golden Ball, York

Last updated April 26, 2024

The Golden Ball is a pub in the Bishophill area of central York, in England.

The first record of the pub was in 1773. The core part of the building was constructed in the early 19th century. In 1883, a house for the publican was constructed by Benson & Minks, adjoining the pub. The pub was sold to Braime's Brewery in 1884, and this in 1902 was taken over by John Smith's Brewery. In 1929, the pub was constructed by their architect Bertram Wilson. He combined the two buildings, raised the ceiling height in the older part of the building, and decorated the front of the pub.^[1]^[2]

In the 1990s, an additional room was added to the pub, from what was formerly a private area. The pub has otherwise been little altered since the 1920s, and is described by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) as "the most complete surviving inter-war scheme by John Smith's". In 2010, the pub was grade II listed on the initiative of CAMRA, and it appears on that organisation's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors.^[1]

In 2012, the pub was taken over by a co-operative of local residents.^[3] Since then, it has held beer festivals, an annual summer fete, and sells works by local artists. It also hosts local music nights.^[4]

The pub has two storeys and a cellar. The whole building is constructed of brick, but the older part, on the corner of Victor Street, has tiling at the ground floor level, and is rendered at the first floor. Its entrance is on Cromwell Road, opening onto a corridor, with the former smoke bar on the left, and the public bar on the right. Historic England notes that it has the only known surviving example of a "bar-side seating alcove", known as a "hall". There is a now-disused doorway for take-away sales, signed "Jug & Bottle Dept". The ground floor windows on Victor Street incorporate etched glass, advertising John Smiths and Magnet Ales. Many internal fittings survive from the 1929 redesign, including doors, tiling, flooring, and the bar.^[2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campaign for Real Ale</span> British consumer organisation

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just under 150,000 members, it is the largest single-issue consumer group in the UK, and is a founding member of the European Beer Consumers Union (EBCU).

McMullen's, known locally as Mac's, is a regional brewery founded in 1827 in Hertford, England, the United Kingdom. The brewery expanded during the second half of the 19th century by purchasing other breweries and their associated pubs. In 1902 it was the second largest brewery in Hertfordshire. The brewery has occupied several different sites in Hertford and moved to its current location in 1891. There have been several breweries on this site and the current one opened in 2006. As of 2021, members of the 6th generation of the McMullen family are still involved with the business.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nowell Parr</span> British architect (1864–1933)

Thomas Henry Nowell Parr FRIBA was a British architect, best known for designing pubs in west London. Many of these were built while Parr was "house architect" for Fuller's Brewery. Parr designed various buildings in Brentford while he was surveyor and then architect to the Council from 1894 to 1907.

The Bell Inn is a pub at the village of Aldworth, in the English county of West Berkshire. It won CAMRA's National Pub of the Year in 1990, and received the accolade again for 2019. It is a Grade II listed building and is the only pub in Berkshire with a Grade II listed interior. It is also on the Campaign for Real Ale's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors.

Burlingtons Bar is under the Town House public house in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.

The Black Horse is a Grade II listed public house at 166 Friargate, Preston, Lancashire, England PR1 2EJ.

The Golden Cross is a Grade II listed public house at the junction of Customhouse Street and Hayes Bridge Road in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. The current building dates from 1903 and is noted for its distinctive ceramic tiling.

The Red Lion is a disused public house on Soho Road, in the Handsworth district of Birmingham, England.

Bishophill is an area of central York, in England. It lies within the city walls and has been occupied since at least the Roman period.

The Blue Bell is a historic pub in the city centre of York, England. The pub lies on the south-west side of Fossgate.

The Swan is a Grade II listed historic pub, immediately south-west of the city centre of York, in England.

The Fox is a pub in the Holgate, York, England.

The New Beehive Inn is a former pub in Bradford, England. It was built by Bradford Corporation in 1901 to replace an existing public house of the same name that they had purchased in 1889 and demolished to widen a road. The corporation intended to run the pub itself but instead let it out and sold it in 1926. It has since been run by a number of brewery companies and individuals. The pub contained many features dating to its construction and a significant refurbishment in 1936 and was described by the Campaign for Real Ale as "one of the country's very best historic pub interiors".

The Zetland is a hotel in the town centre of Middlesbrough, in England.

Whitelock's Ale House is a pub in the city centre of Leeds, in England.

The Bath Hotel is a pub in Broomhall district of Sheffield, in England.

The Templar Hotel is a historic public house located on the corner of Templar Street and Vicar Lane in the city centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was listed at Grade II by Historic England in 2019 following a campaign by Leeds Civic Trust, due to its many original 19th and 20th century external and interior features. The ground floor is clad with distinctive green and cream Burmantofts faience tiling with stained glass windows.

The Tap on the Tutt is a historic pub in Boroughbridge, a town in North Yorkshire, in England.

References

1 2 Gamston, David (2014). Yorkshire's Real Heritage Pubs (2 ed.). St Albans: Campaign for Real Ale. p. 53. ISBN 9781852493158.
1 2 Historic England. "The Golden Ball Public House (1393746)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 26 December 2022.
↑ Aitchison, Gavin (26 June 2012). "Community co-operative to take over Golden Ball pub in Bishophill, York". The Press. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
↑ Jeeves, Paul (19 March 2022). "The Golden Ball: How unique York pub visited by Charles Dickens was saved by a co-operative who bought it". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 26 December 2022.

External links

Official website

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[gamston-1] 1 2 Gamston, David (2014). Yorkshire's Real Heritage Pubs (2 ed.). St Albans: Campaign for Real Ale. p. 53. ISBN 9781852493158.

[nhle-2] 1 2 Historic England. "The Golden Ball Public House (1393746)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 26 December 2022.

[3] Aitchison, Gavin (26 June 2012). "Community co-operative to take over Golden Ball pub in Bishophill, York". The Press. Retrieved 26 December 2022.

[jeeves-4] Jeeves, Paul (19 March 2022). "The Golden Ball: How unique York pub visited by Charles Dickens was saved by a co-operative who bought it". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 26 December 2022.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]