Beautiful Eton # 4 - Turks Head

98 High Street, Eton is "The Turks Head". The original building dates from 1520. It was an alehouse from when records began in 1753. Graham, whose family have lived in Eton for centuries believes his ancestor (Mary Pickman) was landlady there 1800ish, possibly with her husband Richard.

According to the listed buildings register, the building you see today has an exposed 17th century timber framework with red brick nogging on the ground floor and plaster infilling on the first floor. The front ground floor wall and oriel windows are believed to be in the location of the original wall, and were built in the 1950s to replace an earlier addition which had stood in front of the original wall line. The recessed ground floor wall exposes the joists of the floor above. There are three pairs of carved figures under the overhanging jetty. These were apparently added in the 1950s.

The alehouse interior was the scene of an Edmund Bristow painting in 1845. Apparently Edmund Bristow lived in the house next door (number 97) in 1863. In 1878 the alehouse was turned into The Three Lilies, a coffee tavern with low-cost accommodation; aimed at a more respectable clientèle without the temptations of alcohol. I'm not sure what (if anything else) it was between 1912 and when it became Turks Head Antiques. Since 2009 it has been the studio of couturist Hardy & Hooper.