18th-century Leeds pub upgraded to Grade II*-listed status
An 18th-century pub described by the poet laureate John Betjeman as the “very heart of Leeds” has been awarded Grade II*-listed status as part of a drive to protect historic drinking houses across the country.
Whitelock’s Ale House, Leeds’ oldest pub, dates back more than 300 years. Originally called the Turk’s Head, it served merchants and traders at the nearby Briggate market.
In the 1880s the Whitelock family took over and relaunched the pub as an upmarket luncheon bar, with stained-glass windows, brass barley twist columns, mirrors and a ceramic tiled and copper-topped bar counter. It was believed to be the first building in Leeds to have electric lighting and an electric clock.
In the 20th century it became a favourite rendezvous of actors and celebrities. Prince George, later the Duke of Kent, held a party in a curtained-off area. The actor Peter O’Toole, the ballerina Margot Fonteyn and the writer Keith Waterhouse were regulars.
Betjeman, who was poet laureate from 1972 until his death in 1984, said the pub was “the Leeds equivalent of Fleet Street’s Old Cheshire Cheese and far less self-conscious, and does a roaring trade. It is the very heart of Leeds.”
The building was Grade II listed in 1963, and its upgrade to Grade II* gives it additional protection as a historic building.
Duncan Wilson, the chief executive of Historic England, which manages the national heritage list on behalf of the government, said: “At a time when many historic pubs in England are susceptible to change or at risk of closure, we are pleased to celebrate pubs that have kept their remarkable interiors. These rare interiors help tell the fascinating story of pubs over the centuries and how they reflected society.”
The Prince Alfred in Maida Vale,
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