If you like your pubs to come with a healthy dose of character, look no further than these Grade II* listed buildings.
Merseyside is home to many buildings with listed status but no pubs make the highest Grade I status and only four pubs make the second highest Grade II* according to Historic England.
The Philharmonic Dining Rooms in Liverpool, The Scotch Piper Pub on Southport Road in Sefton, Allerton Hall and The Vines on Lime Street are all listed as Grade II* buildings.
In total 93 pubs have achieved listed building status in Merseyside over the years with the first being the Clock Face Pub in Knowsley in March 1951.
Some of the buildings may have ceased to be operated as pubs since they were listed.
The latest pub to become a listed building in Merseyside was the Wheatsheaf on Mill Lane in St Helens which achieved Grade II status in August this year.
Nationally there are 8,964 pubs with a grade listing according to Historic England. Only 11 of these have the highest grade listing of I meaning that the buildings are of exceptional interest.
Here are Merseyside’s Grade II*listed pubs:
Philharmonic Dining Rooms
Most famous for its splendid roseate marble urinals, this city centre favourite has plenty to offer both men and women.
Commissioned in the style of a gentleman’s club between 1898 and 1900, it takes its name from Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall just over the road on Hope Street.
Two of its rooms are named Brahms and Listz after the famous composers.
Don’t miss its fabulous plasterwork, by sculptor CJ Allen, who also created the bronze figures on Liverpool’s Queen Victoria monument among and much other work in the city, as well as the mahogany and glass, which are based on the theme of music.
36 Hope Street, Liverpool, first listed on December 7, 1966.
Scotch Piper Public House
Dating from 1320, Lancashire’s oldest pub was originally known as The Royal Oak, named for the tree around which it was built.
It still has its thatched roof and you can see sections of the tree’s trunk in the tap room.
It’s worth the short drive from Liverpool to see it – or makes a great place to stop off for refreshment during a bike ride along the Cheshire Lines.
Southport Road, Lydiate, first listed on October 11, 1968.
Allerton Hall
Known to many as ‘the Pub in the Park’, this red sandstone mansion had many notable owners before becoming a public house.
Home to the Lathom family, it was mostly built in the early-18th century. with a library and music room added in the early-1900s.
Liverpool philanthropist William Roscoe bought it from the Lathoms but had to leave it in 1816 when he became bankrupt.
During the American Civil War, the mansion was rented by American landowner Charles Kuhn Prioleau, who financially supported the Confederate States.
It was donated to Liverpool City Council in 1927.
Two fires have left it a shadow of its former self. It now has four rooms for drinking and dining as well as two beer gardens, making it a good choice for families.
Springwood Avenue, Woolton, Liverpool, first listed on March 14, 1975.
The Vines
The Vines pub
Nicknamed ‘The Big ‘Ouse’, this Edwardian Baroque pub was designed by Walter Thomas and built in 1907.
Its exterior could hardly be more ornate – with carved stone, glass and polished brass. Topped with a narrow tower and with a clock pertruding at one side, it is one of Lime Street many landmarks.
81-87 Lime Street, Liverpool, first listed on March 14, 1975.
