The Grange Hotel, Keynsham, Bath and North East Somerset

Summary

A former house, now a hotel, of mid-late-C18 date with early-C19, C20 and C21 additions and alterations.

Description

A former house, now a hotel, of mid-late-C18 date with early-C19, C20 and C21 additions and alterations.

MATERIALS: constructed of local stone with later brick additions, and cement rendered. The roofs are clay tile. The front porch is timber.

PLAN: a double-depth plan with eastern and rear extensions. Principal rooms are set both side of a central hallway, with a further room to the east. The first and second floor rooms are accessed by a stairwell in a later range to the rear of the hallway. Attached C20 buildings extend the length of the plot to the south.

EXTERIOR: a three-storey, three-bay façade with an additional bay set back to the east. The road front has end pilasters, ground and first-floor platbands and a blocking course with a coped stone cornice. To the ground floor are three-light canted bays with 12-pane sashes either side of central doorway. At first floor are Venetian windows to the outer bays with sashes, that to right with intersecting Y-tracery in head. The horned sash to the left bay is a replacement. To the central bay is a single-light, round-arched sash window with Y-traceried head. The second floor has tripartite 12-pane sashes to the outer bays and a 12-pane sash to the centre. The projecting gabled C19 porch has Tuscan Doric half-columns, side lights and a part-glazed, panelled outer door with margin glazing. The glazed inner door is of C20 date, and the original pediment may remain encased above. The C19 extension to the left has a C20 gabled porch and a blind window to the second floor. To the ground floor of the west flank are three 12-pane sashes. The second floor has central two 12-pane sashes divided by a mullion. The windows to the outer bays have 20-pane sashes. The second-floor windows are uPVC.

INTERIOR: most of the C18 internal walls and chimney breasts survive along with some joinery to all floors, including windows with rebated shutters, skirting boards and dado rails, and some sections of C18/C19 plaster cornice. The shutters to the first-floor room to the west open in two parts. The ground-floor room to the early-C19 bay has a cast-iron ceiling rose. One of the bedrooms above has a late-C19 cast-iron fireplace. The stairs, doors, many internal partitions and other fittings are modern replacements. Some exterior walls have had their internal plaster removed. The roof structure is altered with many replacement timbers, but has some remaining C18 and C19 fabric. The buildings to the rear of the C18 house have no fittings of interest.

History

The Grange Hotel was built in the mid-late-C18 as a dwelling house. It was extended to the east in the early-C19, as shown on the tithe map of 1840, which also shows two ranges to the rear and two projections to the façade. The rear range to the east had been demolished by the First Edition Ordnance Survey Map of 1884, when the building is marked as The Grange. The front porch, not shown on historic maps, is probably of late-C19 date. The rear range to the south-west was probably rebuilt in the late-C19 or early-C20 and is shown on the Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map of 1904. Infill structures were built next to the rear range by 1916, and a further building in the south of the building plot was built in the mid-late-C20. During the 1920s the building became The Grange Nursing Home, and later in the C20 was converted to a hotel. As a result of these changes of use, some of the layout was altered, and many fittings were replaced. The buildings to the south were connected to the rear of the C19 range in the late-C20.

Reasons for Listing

The Grange Hotel, Keynsham, Somerset, a former C18 house, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: it has a strong presence on the streetscene as a local, provincial interpretation of mid-C18 architectural tastes;
* Date: constructed well before 1840;
* Intactness: a significant proportion of its C18 fabric remains, which is required of buildings of this type and date.
* Alterations: while extensive to the first floor and rear, these have not affected the legibility of the building, and some C18 fittings survive, notably joinery.

External Links

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.