Description

LICHFIELD

SK1109SE BIRD STREET
1094-1/8/24 (North East side)
05/02/52 Nos.12 AND 14
George Hotel

GV II*

Hotel. Late C18 with later additions. Brick with stucco
facade; graduated slate roof. Courtyard plan. Georgian style.
2-storey, symmetrical 5-bay, centre with 3-storey, 3-window,
flanking ranges; ground floor has large canted angle to left
end. Centre has rusticated ground floor and Ionic pilasters,
frieze and cornice to 1st floor; flanking ranges have platt
band over ground floor and top cornice.
Central elliptical-headed carriage entrance with C19 or C20
infill with glazed doors, sidelights and cornice. Windows have
sills and 12-pane sashes, those to ground floor of centre in
recesses with rusticated wedge lintels, those above are large,
with panels over; 2nd floor has windows with 6-pane sashes;
ground floor windows to left of entrance have C20 casements.
3-storey, 2-window, range to right has stucco ground floor and
modillioned brick cornice; windows to ground and 1st floor
have 12-pane sashes, those to 1st and 2nd floor have rubbed
brick flat arches, those to 2nd floor have 6-pane sashes.
Rear wings, one with hipped slate roof, one extended in late
C19.
INTERIOR: large ballroom to 1st floor, entablature with
scrolled foliage to panelled frieze, segmental vault has
guilloche bands and ceiling roses, distyle-in-antis colonnade
to rear recess with columns copied from the Tower of the
Winds; entrance has doorcase with panelled pilasters and
entablature with enriched frieze, paired 3-panel doors; simple
marble fireplaces with C19 overmirrors. Open well staircase
wtih stick balusters and 2 columns to landing.
A good example of a coaching inn serving the London to Chester
road, one of the 2 most important in Lichfield; described by
Pevsner as: 'one of the best late C18 hotel buildings in the
land', the incorporation of the ballroom being a rare feature.
George Farquhar, 1677-1707, stayed at the predecessor of the
present building in 1705, later immortalising it in 'The Beaux
Stratagem'.

Listing NGR: SK1159009479

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17557809

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)