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WEST MIDLANDS - Birmingham, Hockley, Rose Villa Tavern National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors Part Two 172 Warstone Lane, Hockley, Birmingham, B18 6JW Tel: 0121 236 7910 Public Transport: Metro: Jewellery Quarter; Bus: 8 A/C Listed Status: Grade II View this pub on a local map
Prominently sited in the heart of Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter, the pub was built in 1919-20 for Mitchells & Butlers by their regular architects, Wood & Kendrick. It is an interesting building which is a kind of half-way house between the florid late Victorian and Edwardian pub on one hand, and the much simpler architecture of the inter-War period. The exterior is a stripped version of the richly ornamented turn-of-the-twentieth-century Birmingham public house, but inside there is an extensive display of splendid tilework by Carters of Poole with dark green and cream predominating. The most impressive part is the rear snug called the 'Smugglers Den' with floor to ceiling tiled walls and a superb inglenook style tiled fireplace featuring ceramic decoration and an arch incorporating a ceramic head. There is a tile painting above the fireplace and this room has a skylight with stained and leaded panels, but the bar counter is modern.
There are impressive ceramic doorways throughout and the tiles continue on the dado of the staircase which leads up to the Sovereign Suite, a small room with an old wood surround fireplace and more leaded windows, but new bar fittings added. The main 'Bullion Bar' has an impressive display of tiled walls including pictorial panels of scantily clad young girls.
Other magnificent displays of tiled paintings can be found at Café Royal, Edinburgh, Scotland; Mountain Daisy, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear; Havelock, Hastings, East Sussex; Central Bar, Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland; and Golden Cross, Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales.
The other great feature is the exterior window glass with colourful representations of galleons. There may have been a loss of internal screenwork. The bar back here is the original as is the counter. On the left the former off-sales passage, also with tiled walls, is no longer in use and gaps have been made in the walls so that it is now possible to walk around the pub. The Emerald Lounge at the rear has a vestibule entrance with tiled walls, and original fixed seating in the bay window, but the bar back here is a modern addition.
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