A HISTORIC pub has been awarded an accolade recognising its contribution to the community.

The Red Lion, in Silsden, has been granted a blue heritage plaque.

It is the third such honour to be bestowed in the town by Silsden Local History Group.

Chairman, David Mason, said the story of the Red Lion – in Kirkgate – and the part it had played in the community, was “really remarkable”.

“We felt it deserved permanent recognition,” he added.

The pub began life as a medieval farmstead, but by the early 1700s the enterprising Horne family had also introduced a brewhouse and inn – with stabling for horses.

The Red Lion name soon became firmly established.

There was a series of victuallers, who also pursued other occupations – such as shoemaker and blacksmith – from the site.

Remnants of the stables and a blacksmith’s forge remain.

By the 19th century – as Kirkgate was transformed from a rutted lane into the main turnpike road through what was then a village – the Red Lion blossomed into a centre of social and cultural life under the musically-talented Weatherhead family, which built an assembly room over the stables and was involved in running the inn for over a century.

Musical concerts – featuring everything from brass bands to Bach – were staged there, evening classes were held for working men, there were debating societies, political rallies by the Chartists and mass hospitality for navvies who flocked into Silsden to build the local reservoir and stretch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

The inn also hosted auctions and inquests and was a meeting place for emerging groups such as friendly societies and sports clubs.

And it was at the premises that initial discussions took place about plans for a Mechanics Institute, which was built in 1883 and subsequently became Silsden Town Hall.

Charles Weatherhead, a devout Methodist preacher, became the first chairman of Silsden Urban District Council when it was formed in 1893. And a street in the town, Weatherhead Place, is named after the family.

The Red Lion is now owned by the Reid family and hosted by Luke Reid, who said he was delighted at the blue plaque recognition and was keen to preserve some of building’s historic features.

He is also poised to reintroduce brewing on the site, with a traditional bitter – Cobbied Ale – expected to be among the most popular tipples.

“It is great to think that we are continuing a tradition which began so long ago in Silsden,” he added.

A history group leaflet about the pub is to be made available at the bar.