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A Preston city centre bar will have to call time on a sign hanging over its front door – after it was deemed damaging to the historic premises.
The illuminated logo was installed above Hogarths, on Church Street, two years ago – but Preston City Council has now rejected a retrospective bid for permission to keep it there.
The authority concluded the self-promotional image – which sits level with the first floor of the Grade II-listed building – is “excessively large and projects significantly onto the street”.
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Hogarths – which has 15 outlets across the country – said the sign had replaced a “distressed” predecessor, but that it would now be taken down and not replaced with an alternative. It had disappeared from the three-storey property by Monday afternoon.
The circular signage featured the gin joint’s “H” emblem and bore the words “Free House” on a rectangular section beneath. Its main body was 1.1 metres in diameter and protruded 2.2 metres from the premises on steel bars.
It is understood the previous banner-style sign was also unauthorised and had been put up prior to Hogarths taking over the building a decade ago – at which point the logo was changed, but the style remained unaltered. Planning officials said it had been “much less intrusive” than the more recent version.
The building dates back to the early 1890s and was originally a Conservative working men’s club. It stands between Preston Minster and the Bull and Royal pub – both of which are Grade II*-listed.
In a report outlining the reasons for their refusal to grant so-called ‘advertisement consent’ for the sign, planning officers stated it “detracts from the appearance of the listed building” and “particularly obstructs the view of the oriel window when viewed from the western side of Church Street”.
They concluded: “It is appreciated that the applicant wishes to advertise the public house, but it is felt that this should not come at the expense of the building’s visual integrity.”
In 2023, the blank gable end wall of the building became home to Preston’s ‘Mother’ mural. That, too, was without planning permission at the time it was painted, but eventually won the approval of the city council.
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