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GREATER MANCHESTER - Eccles, Grapes

National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors Part One

439 Liverpool Road, Peel Green, Eccles, Manchester, M30 7HD

Tel: 07827 850241

Public Transport: Railway Station: Patricroft

Listed Status: Grade II

View this pub on a local map

Between 1903 and 1906 the Joseph Holt Brewery built three impressive pubs in Eccles, the Grapes, the Lamb and the Royal Oak. All are magnificent examples of Edwardian architecture but the Grapes (1903) is the most spacious and the most extravagant in its use of carved mahogany and decorative glass. A Red Brick pub built in 1903, it has possibly the most impressive drinking passage in the UK. The L-shaped passage has a terrazzo floor and lots of deep etched glazed panels in both doors and the wonderful shuttered bar with sliding screens. The dado of green tiles which continues up the staircase includes some with Art Nouveau patterns. The Bar Parlour on the left retains its original fixed seating, bell pushes, baffle and tiled & carved wood surround fireplace. The Rear Smoke Room has an original fireplace and has been doubled in size by combining it with former private quarters to the rear.

The former Billiard Room at the rear still has its raised seating, tiled & wood surround fireplace, bell pushes and hatch to the bar but a pool table has replaced the full sized billiard one. The Public Bar absorbed the off-sales some years ago and has a good but disused vestibule entrance, all other fittings are modern. There is also an upstairs meeting room. There have been some minor alterations over the years but the pub has such grandness and wealth of detail that the changes are not that apparent. The interior is rich in the usual Art Nouveau tiling and Jacobean door surrounds, fireplaces and stairs.