St. George's Square: The George Hotel

Details

Deposited Plan Number:no data
Date:1849 - 50
Plans Register:no data
Street:St. George's Square
Property Name / Number:The George Hotel
Area:Town Centre, HD1 1JA
District:Kirklees
Town:Huddersfield
Grid Reference:SE1441816956
Building Project:The George Hotel
Type:Hotel / Licensed Premises
Applicant:no data
Applicant Address:no data
Architect:William Wallen
Architect Address:Manchester Road, Huddersfield (from 1841)
Status of Project:no data
Contractor:Joseph Kaye
Contractor Address:no data
Work Commenced:1849
Work Completed:1850
Occupants:no data
Subsequent Alterations / History:Existing, Glass-roofed entrance porch later addition, Building modernised several times, Grade II* Listed (20 September 1977)
English Heritage Listing:1277386 — listed on 20 September 1977 (old ID: 407015)
Location of Archives:no data
Buildings of Huddersfield ID:3908

Images

Additional Information

1849-50. Architect William Wallen of London who was belived to have been assisted Charles Child of Todmorden,Yorkshire.

Ashlar sandstone. Slate mansard roof. Ashlar stacks. 4 storeys and attics. Deeply moulded eaves cornice with console-shaped triglyphs, between which are paterae alternating with diamond-facetted panels. Rusticated ground floor. Moulded strings above ground and 1st floors. Moulded long and short quoins. Facade breaks forward slightly 6 ins away from corners. 7 ranges of sashes with glazing bars; those on ground floor with vermiculated quoins and keys: those on 1st floor with moulded and shouldered surrounds, cills on brackets, full entablatures, triangular pediments to bays 2 and 6, and segmental pediment on console-shaped scrolls to bay 4; those on 2nd floor with moulded and shouldered surrounds and cills on brackets; those on 3rd floor with moulded and shouldered surrounds, 7 attic dormers with casements and segmental pediments.

John William street facade. Similar fenestration. 3 bays. Central 1st floor window has ashlar balcony on 5 deep moulded consoles, with moulded handrail, panelled newels, balustrade composed of intersecting stone circles, and badge with St George in relief.

West facade. 3 bays and one to north slightly set back. Similar fenestration, but ground floor windows have plain surrounds and all 1st floor windows have long scrolled consoles to cills. Set back bay has semi-circular on 1st floor with moulded cornice and parapet: 3 windows, same as others but without entablature.

Extension to north. 3 storeys and attics. Eaves cornice. 5 bays, of which outer 2 have windows in plain surrounds and 3 inner ones break forward with rusticated quoins. 3 arched windows linked by moulded impost on ground floor;

5 segment-headed sashes with glazing bars in moulded and shouldered frame with keystones on 1st floor; three windows with moulded and shouldered surrounds on 2nd floor.

Railings round area at west end of south front, and west front. Cast iron.

Baluster finials.

History: Built by Sir John William Ramsden, 5th Bart, to replace the George

Inn, which stood on the north side of the Market Place, and was re-erected in St Peter's Street when John William Street was built.

[Extract from the Historic England web site, list entry number 1277386]

The History of the George Hotel

The current George Hotel is the third building to bare the name, The George has been the premier hotel in Huddersfield for over 250 years. The first building to house the George Hotel is believed to have been built around 1687 but it is not certain whether the building was originally used as a hotel or whether it was taken over at a later date. The first definitive evidence of the existence of the hotel comes in 1716 from records of rent paid to the Ramsden family in 1716.

The first George Hotel is known to have been a large single story building facing onto the market place.

This building was demolished and replaced with a larger and more impressive new hotel in 1787, the second building was located on the same site as the original George facing onto the Northern end of the market place. It is quite likely that the second George Hotel was designed by the well known architect John Carr but there is no definitive evidence of this. The new building only had a short life being demolished in 1851 to make way for the construction of John William Street, Though the facade of the building still exists as it was bought by a firm of local merchants who arranged for its removal and re-erection in 1852 as the front of their new warehouse and show rooms on St. Peters Street where it still stands today. The Third (and current) building to house the George hotel was built to coincide with the arrival of the railway in Huddersfield, built directly in front of the Huddersfield railway station facing onto St Georges Square it was completed in the same year as the station (1850).

Designed by renowned architect William Wallen and built by local builder Joseph Kaye who also constructed the station.

Kaye is believed to have got the contract for construction of the hotel because he was able to offer a lower price by using stone left over from the construction of the station, with the original estimate of £6,100 but the actual final cost of the building being in excess of £10,000.

(Sources of information: The Buildings Of Huddersfield, Keith Gibson & Albert Booth, Tempus Publishing 2005. & Huddersfield: A Most Handsome Town, Kirklees Metropolitan Council,Cultural Services November 1992)

Location

Online maps: National Library of Scotland Historic Maps | Old Maps UK | Google | Google Street View | Bing
The red marker indicates the location of this record. Green and yellow dots are locations of other geotagged records, where yellow means the building was subsequently demolished.

At the Same Location?

The following records are located within 10 meters:
RecordDistance (feet & meters)
George Hotel, St. George's Square: Additions and Alterations to Hotel (amended plan) (1938) - plan# 24820A0ft0m
St. George's Square: Additions to the 'George Hotel' (1899) - plan# [?32)0ft0m

What's Nearby?

The following records are located within 100 meters:
RecordDistance (feet & meters)
Northumberland Street: No 1 and 3130ft40m
John William Street: No 64 and 66153ft47m
John William Street: No 68158ft48m
John William Street: No 70 - 78192ft58m
John William Street: Lion Buildings (1853) 234ft71m
Northumberland Street: Princess Cinema255ft78m
St. George's Square: New W.C.'s (1870) - plan# 105260ft79m
St. George's Square: Britannia Buildings (1856) 265ft81m
St. George's Square: No 7288ft88m
Northumberland Street: Crescent Hotel288ft88m
Byram Street: No 13 to 18 (consec)301ft92m
Railway Street: No 13 - 21313ft95m
John William Street: Empire Cinema (1915)316ft96m
Byram Street: No 23324ft99m