Site Event/Activity record ECH6750 - Historic Building Investigation: Royal Hotel, Nantwich Road, Crewe, Cheshire East

A building investigation report was produced in 2019 for the Royal Hotel, Crewe, in advance of proposed re-development, including some alterations to the nineteenth century hotel, also the demolition of redundant outbuildings in the rear yard. The hotel is not a nationally listed building, but is locally listed. The precise date of origin of the Royal Hotel is uncertain, although it was open by 1846 when the first Post Office in Crewe was established in a room at the hotel. The building was extended several times, including documented episodes in 1897, 1903 and 1946, with the extension of 1897 seemingly replacing much of the original hotel. The later extension included the addition of a building to the western end and outbuildings to the north, which survive extant in an altered condition; these outbuildings form the main focus of this report. The Royal Hotel represents an exceptional visual example of 19th-century architecture used in the construction of hotels. The use of four-pointed arched windows and decorative terracotta tiles are a fine example of Gothic and Jacobian influenced style. Whilst the northern outbuilding is plain in design, it was a functional building that was intended for use as a stable and garage to the hotel. However, in view of its current poor condition and the extent to which the original fabric has been altered, the outbuilding is considered to be of low relative significance, and its demolition will not constitute substantial harm to the locally listed Royal Hotel. (1)