A pub that was renamed in honour of Queen Victoria’s royal visit to Salford in 1851 has been granted special protected status as an Asset of Community Value.
The Grade-II listed Queen’s Arms, tucked away off Green Lane near Patricroft train station, has been a feature of local life for over 185 years.
Community campaigners the Queen’s Arms Preservation Society have been trying for the accolade since March 2014, but Salford City Council only granted the order last week.
Nina Keshishan from the Society said: “The Queens Arms has a loyal following within the local community.
“This includes residents as well as workers from local businesses.”
The listing as an Asset of Community Value means has that if the pub ever goes up for sale, the group will be given time to come up with a bid.
This ‘community right to bid’ was introduced by the government’s 2011 Localism Act, which says that Salford City Council must maintain a list of community assets, as nominated by community groups.
Originally called the Patricroft Tavern, the Queen’s Arms was built in 1828 to coincide with the opening of the Liverpool to Manchester Railway and renamed 23 years later in honour of the royal visit.
As such, it has a strong claim to be the world’s first ever pub built to serve the railway.
[Editor’s note: Darlington’s Railway Tavern, which was built a year earlier in 1827 for the Stockton to Darlington line, also has a claim, but is not Grade listed due to extensive internal changes]
The Queen’s Arms was Grade-II listed in 1989 due to its range of architectural features, including Edwardian etched glass windows and doors, and fireplaces with Art Noveau surrounds inside.
It really is a great example of an unspoilt public house and in 2010 won CAMRA’s Traditional Pub of the Year Award.
For today’s community there is television, pub games (darts, dominoes and cribbage), regular live music and two quiz nights.
There are three separate rooms – a very smart and comfortable lounge, a more spartan vault and a quiet and comfortable snug.
It has served hundreds of thousands of local people since the 1800s and was an important part of daily life in the Industrial Revolution – due to its proximity to James Nasmyth’s now-demolished engineering works.
Nasmyths’s works eventually became the Patricroft Royal Ordinance Factory which was itself strategically important as a weapons factory during the Second World War.
Read: Green Lane row over 142 home-plan for former Patricroft ROF
The successful listing throws open the door for other Salford buildings of historical note to be protected from sale or development.
If you have a building in mind you’d like to see listed as an asset of community value, please contact us at editor@salfordonline.com
