Royal Hotel and ranges to rear, Kettering, North Northamptonshire

Summary

Hotel, late-C18, extensively updated and rebuilt in 1878, extended 1896-1899, with further alterations in the C20.

Description

Hotel, late-C18, extensively updated and rebuilt in 1878, extended 1896-1899, with further alterations in the C20.

MATERIALS: constructed of brick in Flemish bond with stone dressings under a slate roof. The earlier, late-C18 range visible from the north elevation is constructed of ironstone.

PLAN: the hotel faces east with the principal façade facing Market Place. The building continues south with the post-1896 extension which follows the road to curve around West Street to the west. To the west of the hotel is the former stable range which continues as a u-shape around West Street and an alley to the north. The former yard between the hotel and stable block has been partially infilled in the C20.

EXTERIOR: the hotel is Jacobean in style with Queen Anne influences with the principal façade in red brick framed by two bays with Dutch curved gables. A further bay with Dutch gable is located to the west on West Street. The building is substantial and is arranged over three storeys with basement and continues south before wrapping around West Street to the west. The principal façade’s Dutch gables have stone cylindrical pinnacles attached at their centre; the northern gable features a carved date stone of 1878. The bays of the principal façade are generally denoted by stone quoins, each topped with a pinnacle. Stone plat bands are in situ between the floors. The north bay of the façade projects forward and contains pairs of sash windows on the upper floors (the second-floor windows are replacements) and a large plate glass window at ground floor level. All of the windows are framed by a projecting stone hood mould and sill. To the left (south) is the hotel’s main entrance with a projecting single-storey porch with a classical arrangement of ionic pilasters supporting a stone frieze with dentilled cornice above the entrance arch. The round stone entrance arch is supported to either side by stone piers. On both of the upper floors is a six-over-six sash with the second floor window topped with a stone moulded pediment. In between the windows on this bay is a stone relief carving featuring the royal coat of arms, referencing the name of the hotel. Continuing south is a pair of identical bays with canted bay windows across all floors with mullions and transoms. A further slim bay with sash window and additional door is situated to the south, with the building continuing around the corner of West Street with a further Dutch gable. The West Street elevation dates to the extension of the hotel between 1896 and 1899 and has a mix of six-over six-sashes and replacement double glazed frames in a sash style on the upper floors. The building is canted as it turns the corner onto West Street with a slim curved oriel window projecting from the upper floors with six-light transomed and mullioned windows. The first storey oriel window has replacement glazing and frames. Between the floors, the oriel has a stone relief carving to read ‘ROYAL HOTEL’ with foliate surround. Above the second-floor window is a further stone relief carving with winged lions and foliate detail. To either side of the oriel on each floor are a pair of six-over-six sashes with stone hood moulds. Only the right-hand windows on the second floor appear to retain their original horned frames, elsewhere, and to the left as the building continues down West Street, windows have been replaced with sash-style uPVC frames. The ground floor of this elevation is dominated by the former late-C19 shopfront, the main frontage and glazing having been removed in the late-C20. The stone pilasters with carved consoles and egg and dart cornice survive, with the fascia removed at the eastern end (September 2021). The ground floor features large replacement multi-pane windows with small glazing and replacement brickwork in stretcher bond. The building continues to the west with a further pair of sash-style windows on first and second floor, with matching details to the original façade such as quoins between bays and pinnacles. The final bay at the west end of West Street has a matching Dutch gable to the front elevation with entrance door and window at ground floor, both with stone hood moulds. The building finally curves to the north to continue to the former yard with brick gate piers and stone ball finial on the right with the left-hand example featuring a stone console attached to the stable block. The remainder of the former yard is now covered by a C20 steel frame structure with corrugated metal cover. A second, early-C20 steel frame structure stands to the west, currently uncovered (2021). From the interior of the courtyard the alterations to the stable block are visible with inserted steel beams to widen the original openings to accommodate cars. On the upper floor original openings have been retained.

To the west of the gate piers the late-C19 stable block in matching materials to the main hotel. At the eastern end the West Street elevation features a simple, Dutch curved gable with central lunette window under a semi-circular brick arch. Behind the gable is a truncated brick stack. At the eastern end of the building, a first-floor window indicates the location of a storage loft. At ground floor level (accessed via the higher ground of the former yard to the north) is a series of small window openings in between wide banded brick piers denoting the seven bays. The windows have deep moulded stone sills and lintels above. Banded brick segmental arches feature at the top of the building in alternating bays. The stable block then runs north from West Street up an alleyway, where a visible building scar is evident in the brickwork, denoting an earlier range running to the west; the elevation is otherwise featureless without any openings.

The north elevation of the hotel and former stable block features a series of predominately single-storey ranges, of a variety of dates, with differing roof levels. To the east, the building rises to two storeys with the earliest, late-C18 range visible, constructed of random rubble with a rendered end gable and brick stack. This range adjoins the principal hotel block to the east.

INTERIOR: from the principal entrance, glazed internal double doors lead to a bar area. The bar is of C20 date with salvaged stained glass from the hotel’s demolished late-C19 frontage on West Street. To the left of the bar is the hotel’s principal staircase from the late-C19 remodelling with heavy newel posts. The posts are square in section and feature squat, ionic fluted columns at their centre, with urn finials above. The stair has a half landing, with closed tread balustrade and continues to the two upper floors above. Opposite the bar is a large reception room with two bay windows facing onto Market Place. This room was knocked through from two smaller late-C19 reception rooms, formerly a commercial room and sitting room. Two fireplaces at either end of this room are C20 replacements. A decorative plaster cornice survives. To the north, a former coffee room is now an open seating area. Throughout the ground floor several late-C19 decorative cast iron fireplaces survive, the examples in the reception rooms being larger and more ornate.

To the north west of the bar the oldest section of the building, dating to the late-C18 houses an earlier staircase, likely to date to the early-C19. The slender staircase rail has been removed between the ground and first floor but survives above. The stair has an open-string design with plain stick balusters. To the west is the former kitchen range, the original fireplace knocked through with double doors leading to the late-C20 replacement kitchen.

To the south of the principal, late-C19 staircase is the late-C19 extension with hallway leading to the former nightclub with colourful majolica tiled walls and ceiling. The former nightclub also retains the same majolica tiles to the ceiling, which have been painted over. To the rear, is the late-C19 extension containing the former billiard room and bar, now in use as a restaurant. The room is richly decorated with large lantern featuring glazing with a printed design lighting a large open space intended for billiard tables. Above door height the walls are tiled, with mahogany panelling below divided by fluted pilasters. At the south end of the room a fireplace with ornate surround and classical over mantle with oval mirror is situated underneath an arched recess. Fixed bench seating is in place around the perimeter of the room and continues into the arched recess. Further fitted benches and mahogany partitions survive to the south and east of the bar, with additional fireplace with mahogany over mantle on the north wall. Above the fitted benches in the bar area are push buttons to gain the attention of bar staff. The fittings within the room are by renowned Birmingham bar fitters Gaskell and Chambers with the exception of the bar servery itself. This is in a similar style intended to match the panelling elsewhere but is a C20 replacement. Ornate cast iron fireplaces and the original late-C19 parquet flooring survive in the room.

To the rear (north) of the former billiard room is an additional function room, likely to have originally been a ballroom, dating to the late-C19 refurbishment. The room is more minimal in its decoration than the neighbouring billiard room, and was intended for use by both men and women. The room features panelling beneath dado rail and a pair of identical fireplaces on the south wall with classical ionic pilasters, mirrored over mantles and printed tile surrounds. At the centre of the room the ceiling appears to have originally had a glazed lantern which has since been covered.

The upper floors of the hotel retain some features from the 1896-1899 phase of alterations, including moulded arches along the first-floor corridor, stained glass which matches the windows in the former ballroom and further decorative cast-iron radiators.

History

A hotel is recorded on the site of today’s Royal Hotel in the early-C19. Then known as The White Hart, the building was purchased by the fifth Duke of Buccleuch in 1834, and is known to have welcomed among its guests, Queen Victoria, the Prince Consort and Charles Dickens. The hotel was updated and rebuilt in 1878 with the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1886 depicting a principal, six-bay range fronting Market Place to its east. To the rear, a courtyard is shown with a linear range of service rooms to the north and stabling to the west and south in a u-shape to enclose the yard. The rebuilding has been attributed by some to the architect John Alfred Gotch but this attribution has been found to be erroneous, with Gotch only setting up a practice in Kettering in 1879. Sales particulars from 1896 indicate the extent of the stabling and horse boxes, which was noted to have capacity for 76 horses. To the south-west of the principal hotel range, fronting West Street, a separate two-storey building is shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map containing further stabling and coach housing. This building also included a shop at ground floor noted as being in use as a fish mongers on the 1881 and 1891 census records. Historic photographs show that this building was attached to the main hotel on Market Place via a carriage archway with shaped stone pediment.

The hotel was extensively extended after the sale of the building to Phipps Brewery in 1896 but prior to the publication of the 1900 Ordnance Survey map. An extension was constructed to the rear (west) of the hotel, filling in a portion of the former courtyard with the detached fishmongers and coach housing demolished. In its place, the hotel frontage was extended to continue from Market Place along West Street with a new ornate shop and bar frontage installed at ground floor with decorative tiling and bow-fronted stained-glass windows. The rear stable range was also extended and rebuilt at this time with a new frontage along West Street. This work was carried out by Kettering builder W J Payne for Phipps Brewery in 1899-1890.

In 1909 an L-shaped stable range within the yard was demolished and a steel framed structure with corrugated metal roof erected in its place. This was likely erected to create a covered area for car parking and marks the shift from horses to cars as the preferred mode of transport in the early-C20. The stable range was also altered at this time with some of the building's openings widened to accommodate further parking for cars. In the mid-C20 this covered yard area was extended to the east to abut the main hotel with the erection of a new metal roofed structure. In the 1970s the hotel’s kitchen range, which was housed in the oldest part of the building, was moved to the west, with the original kitchen being used for storage.

In the late-C20, sometime after 1982, the late-C19 shop and bar frontage facing West Street was removed to create a new night club on the hotel’s ground and cellar floors. Some of the shopfront’s stained glass was salvaged and moved to the interior of the hotel bar. Further changes to the hotel’s principal façade were made at unknown dates in the C20, including the insertion of a large window on the ground floor of the northern bay. In 2017 two of the stable range’s Dutch gables were removed due to structural concerns; the eastern Dutch gable survives.

Reasons for Listing

The Royal Hotel, an C18 inn remodelled and rebuilt in 1878 and further extended and altered in 1896-9 and in the C20, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* the hotel, by an unknown architect, is skilfully designed in a C19 eclectic style with Jacobean and Queen Anne influences and has a carefully balanced principal façade;
* the 1896-1899 extension to the west successfully matches the detailing and massing of the rest of the hotel and compliments the earlier building;
* the ornamentation across the façade while restrained is of good quality with relief stone carvings on both the 1878 and 1896-1899 range;
* the level of survival of the interior is remarkable with a good level of late-C19 fixtures and fittings throughout and a notably complete richly-decorated former bar and billiard room.

Historic interest:

* the hotel’s development over the late-C19 and early-C20 helps to demonstrate the changing needs of its guests with significant investment from Phipps Brewery and conversion of the stables into garages reflecting the importance of Kettering's position on the expanding C20 road network.

External Links

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