Survey Data
Reg No
50130258
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Social
Previous Name
Broomhill House
Original Use
Country house
In Use As
Hotel
Date
1880 - 1885
Coordinates
316725, 237777
Date Recorded
20/06/2018
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Attached four-bay two-storey Italianate former house, built 1881, with original square plan now generally subsumed by extensions of c. 1970 to roof and sides; whole now in use as hotel. Building faces south, with projecting west bay and single-storey porch to re-entrant angle; single-storey box-bay to east end bay; and single-storey canted-bay to north elevation. Original roof replaced by bituminous flat roof and extensions, bounded by balustraded parapet; concealed gutters and mostly original cast-iron downpipes. Painted stucco walling with quoins, stringcourses and modillioned cornice. Square-headed window openings with moulded stucco architraves and keystones, continuous sill course and timber one-over-one pane sliding sash windows; west end bay has paired windows, those to ground floor having shared dentillated segmental pediment with arabesque ornament over scrolled brackets and pilasters; classical ornamentation to box and canted-bays. Round-headed doorway to porch with timber four-panel door with plain frieze and fanlight, and having sidelights flanked by twin pilasters supporting dentillated entablature. Surrounded by later phases of hotel buildings, with reception entrance to east and tower block to north, and with small garden to west.
Appraisal
An ornate Italianate house, designed by Albert Murray for Robert Paul, and converted as part of a hotel. Broomhill is shown on the Ordnance Survey map of about 1900 as having a further range to the northwest attached to a stable block. The building is distinguished by its attractive proportions and copious Italianate ornamentation, including pediments and pilasters that are very representative of the period. However, the historic building is largely overwhelmed by the massive volumes of the later hotel buildings. Despite this, the historic building retains much of its original detailing and many features and contributes to the architectural variety of the area.