North Stafford Hotel

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North Stafford Hotel
North Stafford Hotel, Stoke-on-Trent.JPG
North Stafford Hotel, Stoke-on-Trent
North Stafford Hotel
General information
Location Winton Square, Stoke-on-Trent
Coordinates 53°00′30″N2°10′49″W / 53.008393°N 2.180184°W / 53.008393; -2.180184
Opening1849 (1849)
Management Britannia Hotels
Technical details
Floor count3
Design and construction
Developer North Staffordshire Railway
Other information
Number of rooms88
Number of restaurants1
Website
Official website

The North Stafford Hotel is a Grade II* listed hotel in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, opposite the city's railway station, also a Grade II* listed building. [1]

History and design

The hotel was built by John Jay for the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) in 1849 at a cost of £8,843. [2] The building is three stories high and based on an Elizabethan-style E-shaped plan. The design is similar to that of the station but more subdued; the building was extended in 1878. [1] The building is mainly brick-built, with blue stone diapering and a plain tiled roof and Dutch-style gables above the outer and central bay windows. The central ground floor bay forms a porch. [3] The hotel was built to resemble an Elizabethan manor house. [4] The hotel quickly built an up a good reputation and, within a few years, was regarded as one most important hotels in Staffordshire. [2]

When the County Borough of Stoke on Trent was formed in 1910, incorporating six towns, the hotel was chosen the venue for the inaugural meeting of the local council to avoid showing a bias by using one of the six town halls—a matter of local sensitivity at the time. Subsequent meetings rotated between the town halls before the council decided to permanently locate itself in Stoke. [5]

The NSR preferred to lease the building, with limited success. When the NSR was amalgamated into the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1923, the LMS took over the hotel and found the business in poor condition. When a lease expired in 1931, the LMS took the management of the hotel into its own hands and undertook an extensive refurbishment of the building. [1] The hotel has been expanded several times during its history, including additional buildings to the rear, in order to provide more bedrooms and kitchen space. Not all the extensions were conducted sympathetically to the original architectural style, resulting in a variety of architectural styles to the rear of the building. [6]

The hotel became a listed building in 1972 and is listed in grade II*. [3] It is located on Winton Square, immediately opposite Stoke-on-Trent railway station, and is one of four listed buildings on the square. The station itself is grade II* listed, and a statue of local potter Josiah Wedgwood is grade II listed; a row of railway cottages forms another grade II listed building. Winton Square is described as the UK's only piece of town planning undertaken by railway company specifically to set off a station. [1] [7]

The hotel, by then owned by the nationalised British Rail, was sold in 1953 [1] and today is owned by the Britannia Hotels chain, [8] who acquired it in November 2002; it has 88 bedrooms. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Staffordshire</span> County of England

Staffordshire is a landlocked ceremonial county in the West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the south-east, the West Midlands county and Worcestershire to the south, and Shropshire to the west. The largest settlement is the city of Stoke-on-Trent; the county town is Stafford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoke-on-Trent</span> City and unitary authority in England

Stoke-on-Trent is a city and unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of 36 square miles (93 km2). In 2021, the city had an estimated population of 258,400. It is the largest settlement in Staffordshire and is surrounded by the towns of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Alsager, Kidsgrove and Biddulph, which form a conurbation around the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newcastle-under-Lyme</span> Market town in Staffordshire, England

Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is adjacent to the city of Stoke-on-Trent. In 2021 the population was 75,082.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Staffordshire Railway</span> Former British railway company

The North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) was a British railway company formed in 1845 to promote a number of lines in the Staffordshire Potteries and surrounding areas in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Shropshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burslem</span> Human settlement in England

Burslem is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Tunstall, Fenton, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent form part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. It is often referred to as the "mother town" of Stoke on Trent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoke-on-Trent railway station</span> Railway station in Staffordshire, England

Stoke-on-Trent railway station is a mainline railway station serving the city of Stoke-on-Trent, on the Stafford to Manchester branch of the West Coast Main Line. It also provides an interchange between local services running through Cheshire, Staffordshire and Derbyshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barlaston</span> Human settlement in England

Barlaston is a village and civil parish in the borough of Stafford in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is roughly halfway between the city of Stoke-on-Trent and the small town of Stone. According to the 2001 census the population of the parish was 2,659, rising at the 2011 Census to 2,858.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uttoxeter railway station</span> Railway station in Staffordshire, England

Uttoxeter railway station serves the town of Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, England. It is on the Crewe–Derby line, which is also a Community rail line known as the North Staffordshire line. The station is owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trentham, Staffordshire</span> Human settlement in England

Trentham is a suburb of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in North Staffordshire, England, south-west of the city centre and south of the neighbouring town of Newcastle-under-Lyme. It is separated from the main urban area by open space and by the Trent and Mersey Canal and the River Trent, giving it the feel of a village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Etruria Hall</span> Building in Staffordshire, United Kingdom

Etruria Hall in Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England is a Grade II listed house and former home of the potter Josiah Wedgwood. It was built between 1768–1771 by Joseph Pickford. The hall was sold by the Wedgwoods in the 19th century and is now part of a hotel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wedgwood Institute</span>

The Wedgwood Institute is a large red-brick building that stands in Queen Street, in the town of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. It is sometimes called the Wedgwood Memorial Institute, but it is not to be confused with the former Wedgwood Memorial College in Barlaston. It achieved listed building status in 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandon railway station</span> Former railway station in Staffordshire, England

Sandon railway station was a railway station opened by the North Staffordshire Railway to serve the village of Sandon, Staffordshire, England.

The North Staffordshire Railway built or had constructed for it, approximately 350 locomotives. Until the company established Stoke railway works at Stoke-upon-Trent in 1864, a variety of engineering firms supplied locomotives. The company became more self-reliant as time went on, and by the beginning of the 20th century virtually all new engines were produced at Stoke works.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colwich–Stone line</span> Railway line in Staffordshire, England

The Stone to Colwich Line is a 11.7 miles (18.8 km) long railway line in Staffordshire which serves as a cut-off for West Coast Main Line services to Manchester Piccadilly. This route goes direct from Rugeley Trent Valley to Stoke-on-Trent, not going via Stafford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trentham (Staffordshire) railway station</span> Former railway station in England

Trentham railway station was built by the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) as part of the main line south from Stoke towards Stafford and served the village of Trentham, Staffordshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winton Square</span> Square in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England

Winton Square in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, houses Stoke-on-Trent railway station, the North Stafford Hotel, and several other historic structures. The square was built in 1848 for the North Staffordshire Railway, whose headquarters were in the station building, and is a significant example of neo-Jacobean architecture. Today, all the buildings and structures in the square are listed buildings and the square is a designated conservation area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colwich railway station</span> Former railway station in Staffordshire, England

Colwich railway station is a disused railway station in Colwich, Staffordshire, England. The former station is adjacent to Colwich Junction, where the Trent Valley Line to Stafford and the cut-off line to Stoke-on-Trent diverge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Market Drayton railway station</span> Disused railway station in Shropshire, England

Market Drayton railway station served the town of Market Drayton in Shropshire, England, between 1863 and 1963. It was at the junction where three railway lines met: two of them, forming the Great Western Railway route between Wellington (Shropshire) and Crewe, were met by a line from Stoke-on-Trent on the North Staffordshire Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NSR New L Class</span>

The North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) New L Class was a class of 0-6-2T steam locomotives designed by John H. Adams, third son of William Adams. They were designed as a development as the previous L Class, adding a boiler common to the M Class and differed from the L Class with, amongst other things higher bunker sides and new cab roofs, and the abandonment of the cast safety valve cover. 28 were built between 1908 and 1923, with the final four constructed under the auspices of the newly formed LMS with the whole class withdrawn by the end of 1937. There is one survivor.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Biddle, Gordon. Britain's Historic Railway Buildings: A Gazetteer of Structures (Second ed.). Hersham, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing. pp. 367–368. ISBN   9780711034914.
  2. 1 2 "Winton Square Conservation Area Appraisal" (PDF). Stoke City Council. March 2008. pp. 4–6. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  3. 1 2 Historic England. "NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE HOTEL (1290251)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  4. J. G. Jenkins, ed. (1963). "Stoke-upon-Trent: Buildings, manors and estates". A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 8. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  5. J. G. Jenkins, ed. (1963). "The county borough since 1910". A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 8. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  6. "Winton Square Conservation Area Appraisal", p. 14.
  7. Historic England. "STATUE OF JOSIAH WEDGWOOD IN CENTRE OF SQUARE (1195879)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  8. "North Stafford Hotel". Britannia Hotels . Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  9. "A Brief History of Britannia Hotels". Britannia Hotels . Retrieved 4 October 2014.