Red Lion Leek

Property: Red Lion

Grade: II

Reason: Empty and at risk

The Red Lion occupies a prominent position on the east side of Leek Market Place. Built in 1626 for William Jolliffe as a private house, extended to the east in the late 18^th century to create a second assembly room for Leek, and finally becoming a coaching inn. In the 1990s it had been unoccupied for a decade and was becoming derelict.

In 1999 the Architectural Heritage Fund and Staffordshire Moorlands District Council funded the Leek and Moorlands Historic Buildings Trust’s first feasibility study.

As a result: sufficient information was available to persuade the owner to sell at a price that took a realistic view of the repair costs, allowing the building to be restored and returned to its former use as a public house. Sadly the 18^th century Assembly Room was removed in the process, but the building now has a viable future.