The Encore, Bridge Street, Stratford: Refit Plans for the Listed Riverside Pub

Mitchells & Butlers has applied to refit The Encore at 1 Bridge Street, Stratford: new bars, seating and lighting, new Waterside doors and glass-screened planters.

By Alex Harrington 2 min read Source: Stratford-on-Avon District Council
The Encore pub on the corner of Bridge Street and Waterside, Stratford-upon-Avon
The Encore, Bridge Street, in 2014, before its 2018 repaint. Photo: Chris Whippet, CC BY-SA 2.0

The Encore, the Grade II listed pub at 1 Bridge Street in Stratford-upon-Avon, is set for a refit. Mitchells & Butlers, the pub company behind it, has applied for planning permission and listed building consent for new bars, seating, lighting and floors inside, new doors onto Waterside and glass-screened planters for the outdoor seating area. The Encore refit plans were registered by Stratford-on-Avon District Council on 18 September.

On this page
  1. What’s planned
  2. A building with a long history
  3. What happens next

What’s planned

According to the planning and heritage statement written for the company by the consultants Boyer, the work is a refurbishment rather than a rebuild. The pub stays a pub, with no change of use.

  • Inside: new and altered bar and servery joinery, new fixed seating, new floor finishes in some areas, new lighting, and refurbished toilets and back-of-house areas. Existing doors and screens are to be repaired and redecorated where possible.
  • Outside: new entrance doors on the Waterside side, repairs to windows, doors and timber joinery, and new timber planters with glass screens around the Waterside seating area.
  • Bridge Street front: boarding over one of the upstairs windows will be removed and the original window reinstated.

A building with a long history

Historic England’s listing describes The Encore as a pub with a front of about 1800 on what may be a 16th-century building. It was once the Anchor Inn, and in the 16th century it was known as the Bear Inn. It sits in the Stratford-upon-Avon Conservation Area, close to Bancroft Gardens, the river and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, so any change to its outside needs the council’s agreement. In 2018 the council approved internal alterations and the repainting of the front.

What happens next

The council’s environmental health team has no objection, and the county ecologist will reply in full. Anyone can comment on the planning application (26/02348/FUL) and the matching listed building application (26/02349/LBC). The main consultation runs until 23 October and the published notice until 29 October. The council aims to decide by 13 November.

The Encore was first in this week’s New in Stratford. For more places to eat and drink by the river, see our map of every restaurant, café and pub in Stratford, and for other applications near you, Planning near me.

Alex Harrington

Alex Harrington grew up in Stratford-upon-Avon and runs What's up, Stratford? as an independent guide to the town.

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