Monument record TR 25 SW 391 - The Greyhound

The Greyhound Public House, Aylesham was constructed as part of a purpose-built village to house miners at Snowdown Colliery, the first colliery to open in the Kentish coalfields, which were discovered in the mid-C19 and developed from the late-C19. The initial sinking at Snowdown was in 1907 and the first hoppit was brought to the surface in 1912. The associated village was designed by J Archibald, C T F Martindale and Sir Patrick Abercrombie and was built from 1926 to 1927 by Pearson and Dorman Long and Company, who owned the colliery. It was laid out with roads curving symmetrically around a central green and the village layout represented a pithead winding gear from the air. A variety of types of housing of different sizes and facilities was built for different types of workers and, as the village was isolated in the middle of farm land, it was provided with shops, school, cinema, medical centre, church, chapel and a branch of the International Miners' Mission. It was also provided with a purpose-built Public House, the Greyhound Hotel. Local people had memories of this building being used as lodgings for miners in the early days.
The building is first shown on the 1937 Ordnance Survey map where it is called 'Greyhound Hotel PH'. A photograph, probably taken in the late 1920s or 1930s, judging by the type of lorry transporting barrels of beer, shows that at this date the building had an elaborate segmental pedimented overthrow over the parapet in the centre of the south east front and the two blank panels either side of the central window on the first floor had two large capital letter B's fixed (presumably the first letter of the brewery). A free-standing inn sign on a post is shown situated to the south east of the building. The Fan House and winder house (Koepe) No 2 at Snowdown Colliery were listed in 2007.
Aylesham was originally intended to become a small town of 15,000 inhabitants in 3000 houses serving Snowdown Colliery and a new pit at Adisham. However the colliery owners, Dorman Long and Company, were badly hit by the depression in the coal and steel industries of the 1920s and early 1930s, the new pit never materialised, and in 1929 it was decided not to complete Aylesham as originally envisaged. Only 650 houses were completed. In 1987 Snowdown Colliery closed. The Greyhound PH has not been in use as a public house for the last few years.

The former Greyhound Public House was built c.1930 in a Neo-Georgian style. It was constructed of narrow brown bricks in stretcher bond with orange brick voussoirs and panel mouldings, stone copings with ball finials and central doorcase and steeply pitched tiled roof with tall moulded brick chimneystacks. Windows were single and tripartite multi-pane wooden sash windows, but the ground floor windows and one first floor window on the south west side have been replaced in uPVC. The main part of the building is of two storeys but an L-wing to the north west is single storeyed with flat roof. The principal elevation facing south west is of two storeys and seven bays with stone coping to the parapet and end ball finials, and brick end pilasters, band between the floors and plinth. The first floor has a central tripartite wooden sash window flanked by blank panels, still retaining fixings for large letter B's, flanked by further tripartite and single sash windows. The ground floor has a central doorcase with a pediment and Tuscan half-columns. The original door with rectangular fanlight above was replaced by a narrower taller uPVC door and the gap between this and the columns bridged by later brickwork. There are two small sash windows flanking the doorcase and then tripartite and single sash windows, all replaced in uPVC. Projecting to the north west is the single storey wing, probably originally containing an off licence and perhaps a games room behind. On the south west side this has stone coping with similar ball finials and a 40 -pane segmental wooden shopfront. The south east return has a narrow pedimented doorcase.
The north west side has a half-glazed doorcase and a series of single or tripartite windows. A small extension in English bond brickwork was added later at the north east end. The north east elevation has overhanging eaves and irregular fenestration, including on the first floor an off central Venetian window lighting the staircase and seven sash windows, two of which are tripartite. The ground floor has orange brick voussoirs and two round-headed arches, one to an external half-glazed door, the other above two moulded blank panels. The southern end has three narrow windows above a large moulded rectangular blank panel. The south eastern side elevation has two small windows on each floor.
Entrance through the main entrance in the centre of the south west side leads into a lobby which leads to two bars. The south eastern bar is lined with plain matchboard dado panelling, there are a series of c.1930 panelled doors with one large panel above three narrow vertical panels and a plain wooden bar faced with ribbed planks. The north west bar has a similar but longer bar counter with plain shelving above. Partition walls dividing the former Off Licence from the north west bar and both from a rear north eastern room have been demolished and no original fireplaces survive. The main staircase is an oak dogleg staircase of late-C17 type with twisted balusters, moulded handrail and square newel posts with moulded tops and pendants. The upper floor has a corridor with round-headed arch with keystone, off which lead four bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and bathroom. (1)


Historic England archive material: BF099802 THE GREYHOUND PUBLIC HOUSE, AYLESHAM