HISTORY
The Plough has an interesting history of multiple phases of development: expanding in a piecemeal fashion from a two-bay house of approximately 1600 to a substantial multi-room public house and hotel by the end of the C19. The timber framing is consistent on both floors and in the structure of the roof, with a range of clear diagnostic features allowing the pre-1700 origins of this central portion of the building to be securely established. There is a substantial degree of survival of fabric from this earliest phase in the existing core of the building and the simple two-bay arrangement is evident in its present form, albeit with opening out of what were the gable end walls with the extension of the building to the south, probably added in the early C19.
The distinction between the two rooms can still be read through the existing symmetrical arrangement of the pairs of rooms divided by the central brick stack; particularly on the first floor and the attic, where much of the original partition survives. Where later interventions have been made, as with the removal of southern wall on the ground floor, evidence survives (in this case the open mortices in the beam to show the placement of the former wall studs) to allow the original form and the subsequent development to be understood.
“A good proportion of the original framing is retained...”
Throughout the building a good proportion of the original framing is retained, including - in the ground-floor rooms - chamfered tie beams with run-out stops, spine beams and ceiling joists that all conform with the central brick stack. To the western wall in the southern room, much of the framing of the original back wall is exposed, with a sole plate, wall posts, curved upward bracing and wall studs to a middle rail all visible. To the upper floor, two of the trusses are exposed, with tie beams visible in both rooms and the principal rafters, wind braces and jowled wall posts all present in the southern gable wall. Into the loft space further elements of the roof structure can be seen, including heavy, clasped purlins with bridle joints. There is also a complete lath-and-plaster partition to the sides of the stack in the loft, maintaining the central divide here. The roof structure of about 1600 appears to be substantially unaltered in the central core of the building. Throughout this central portion there are additionally several plank-and-batten doors and cupboards with their iron strap hinges, some of which are potentially also of an early date, likely preceding the early C19 phases of work at The Plough. It is clear that the overall rate of survival at the Plough is significant; certainly sufficient to gain a clear understanding of the building’s original use, form, structure and arrangement.
The series of additions contribute to the informal, varied, even picturesque character of the Plough and, in historic terms, they represent the evolution of a modest building in domestic use to a public house; a legible example of this type of adaptation which notably pre-dates the 1830 Beer Act that saw the numbers of such conversions increase dramatically. In summary, The Plough in Shiplake meets the listing criteria on the grounds of its special historic and architectural interest: in the first instance because of its well-preserved historic core dating to around 1600, comprising a well-preserved, two-bay domestic arrangement with distinctive features demonstrative of early C17 vernacular building traditions, but also the later phases of development which clearly illustrate its evolution as a public house into the C19.
“Records trace this back to at least 1749...”
The exact date of the building’s conversion from domestic use to serve as a public house is not known. However, the parish Church Overseers’ records trace this back to at least 1749, with the earliest record of the name ‘The Plough’ dating to 1775, when Robert Brakspear paid an annual surety on behalf of the landlord. The southern extension would have been built as part of the expansion of the building as a public house (tentatively dated to the early C19, although it is possible this was earlier and associated with its conversion in around the mid-C18), this providing additional accommodation in what would still have been a relatively rudimentary beer house at this stage. The later-C19 range reflects its heightened status as a pub-cum-hotel by around the 1880s. The extensions and internal remodelling associated with this phase achieved a more sophisticated, multi-room arrangement, which would have been more readily identifiable as a public house for those passing on the Reading Road through Shiplake. The timber-supported canopies with robust carpentry work and leaded-glazed windows are a distinctive feature of this later-C19 phase, making the entrances a prominent feature to the north and east elevations to the Reading Road junction.
“Between 1872 and 1898 the red brick northern extension was built...”
Into the C19, under the ownership of Brakspear, the Plough was enlarged. The Shiplake tithe apportionment plan of 1840 shows the historic central bays of the present building together with a rear (west) and a side (south) extension wing and what is probably the present adjacent outbuilding to the south (joined more recently by a connecting block). By 1872, the Berkshire 1:1,250 Ordnance Survey map shows an extension to the southern block and a modest extension to the main range to the north. It is probable that the central stack was partially rebuilt at some stage in the mid-C19, possibly as part of the same phase of work that added the southern extension bay.
“The earliest part of the Plough dates back to around 1600...”
The earliest part of the Plough dates back to around 1600. The dormered pair of bays to Reading Road form the historic core of the building, as identified by features of the timber framing here, including jowled wall posts and broad curved braces. It is probable that this part of the building was a lobby-entry house, with the central stack dividing the two rooms over both floors.
There is some evidence of potential earlier origins in the smoke blackened rafters, suggesting the existence of an open hall house which would push the date back into the medieval period, though from the evidence of the rest of the framing it is more probable that these timbers were reused from an earlier structure, either on the site or from elsewhere.
The transition from domestic use to an ale house can be traced back to 1749, with Church Overseers’ records showing payments by Robert Nash for supplies of beer from this date. The earliest recorded name of the ale house is ‘The Plough’, which is noted in 1775 when Robert Brakspear, of the Brakspear Brewery in Henley-on-Thames, paid an annual surety on behalf of the landlord. In 1783, the landlord of the Plough changed his alliance from the Bell Street Brakspear brewery to that of a rival firm in New Street, owned by Robert Appleton, according to surety payments. However, into the C19, Brakspear directly acquired the Plough, together with the New Street brewery premises and several other local pubs. Significant expansion of the Brakspear brewery estate was overseen by William Brakspear during this period; by the time of his death in 1881 the brewery owned 80 pubs in Henley and surrounding villages, including The Plough.
Between 1872 and 1898 the red brick northern extension was built, replacing the small pre-1872 addition and probably also the western extension (now the kitchens). This phase of work provided rooms for let, with the name accordingly styled ‘The Plough Hotel’ at this stage. This name remained until around 1930 when the pub was renamed the Plowden Arms, in reference to the local Plowden family of Shiplake Court, whose family crest is still displayed on the pub sign. Several alterations were undertaken over the course of the C20, with a link block added to connect with the southern outbuilding by the early 1960s and internal rooms appear to have been opened-out and remodelled at around this stage. The southern range of approximately 1870 was demolished in the 1970s.
