Royal Station Hotel

The Royal Station Hotel, built between 1861 and 1863 for the North Eastern Railway, stands as a substantial Victorian railway hotel on a prominent corner site in Newcastle. The original design by Thomas Prosser was based on an earlier scheme by John Dobson. The building was significantly enlarged in 1888-90, with further work also by William Bell for the North Eastern Railway, where Richard Storey served as chief clerk of works. Additional rear extensions were added in 1924-5 by Stephen Wilkinson and again in 1934-5.

The hotel has an iron frame clad in red brick and ashlar sandstone, with a Welsh slate roof. The plan is linear, with a near-central entrance tower. The west wing represents the first phase of construction, later raised in height, with two set-back bays linking the hotel to the adjacent railway station. The east wing and central entrance tower form the second phase, with two rear extensions.

The hotel occupies a long corner site attached to the east end of Newcastle Central Railway Station. Its principal elevation faces Neville Street, with a secondary elevation to Orchard Street. The building features rusticated quoins and ground floor, cornices at first and third floor levels, and a dentil eaves cornice. The mansard roof has pedimented dormers, and a high hipped roof crowns the entrance bay.

The Neville Street elevation centres on a square projecting entrance tower with a Corinthian porch. An attached glass entrance canopy, supported by cast iron posts with elaborate ornamental brackets, shelters steps leading up to an arcaded entrance. The floors above each have cornices and elaborate three-light Corinthian windows lighting the staircase: the first floor has square heads, the second floor semi-circular heads with a balcony and segmental pediment, and the third floor a pedimented head. A segmental parapet completes the bay.

To the right of the entrance tower stands the original hotel building of ten bays and six storeys, plus attics and basements. The elevated ground floor has keyed flat arches to tall four-over-four sash windows, with later steps up to entrances (modified window openings) in the second and fifth bays. The first floor has tall four-pane sash windows in architraves with alternating pedimented and segmental heads. The four upper floors have shorter four-pane sash windows in simple architraves (first floor) and segmental heads. Further right, a pair of set-back bays forms a linking block to Central Railway Station, with paired two-light mullioned windows to the first floor and paired four-light sash windows to all other floors in simple stone surrounds. Below runs a wide, keyed segmental arched passageway with an ornate iron canopy to the front.

To the left of the central entrance bay is the extended hotel range of ten bays and four storeys, plus attic and basement. The first five bays are slightly projecting and quoined. This section displays varied window treatments: the basement has a mixture of canted bay windows and four-pane sashes, all with flat-arched keyed heads. The elevated ground floor shows the greatest elaboration, with tall canted bay and sash windows featuring elaborate segmental and pedimented Corinthian architraves. The three canted bays are triple-height, projecting into both the basement level and the first floor. The first floor is otherwise plainer, with replacement two-pane sash windows in plain surrounds. The third and fourth floors have lugged and segmental architraves respectively.

The Orchard Street elevation has three bays and four storeys plus basement, with similar detailing to the main elevation including cornices and keyed, pedimented and segmental window treatments to both sash windows and canted bays. The central bay contains a triple-height canted bay window with a pedimented central section. External metal fire escapes extend to the rear of the building. The east and west elevations of the projecting rear extension are fitted with modern uPVC window frames.

The rear elevation has regularly spaced four-over-four sash windows to each floor at the east end, forming the later 19th-century hotel extension, with attached fire escapes, service equipment and sheds. The early 20th-century extension projects at right angles under a mansard roof, with fire exits and escapes to each floor. West of this stands the double-height mid-20th-century extension, which has a round-headed blind arcade, each arch containing a leaded glass window. To the left is a full-height art deco entrance within a fluted architrave, featuring a large art deco glazed cylinder with a mahogany revolving door and art deco margin lights below. A canted corner contains a second entrance fitted with double doors and an art deco overlight. Further left lies the rear of the original mid-19th-century hotel. A ground floor arcade of five openings with round and segmental arched and keyed heads are separated by rectangular pilasters. The arches spring from imposts, unified by an impost band. The left end bay is wider and projecting with elaborate chamfers, containing an arched carriage opening with four narrow lights above. Above the four other arches are four-over-four sash windows. Above these windows, the attached steel and glazed canopies of the central station obscure vision above the first floor, but each floor has regularly spaced window openings with a bay to the left containing fire exits and escapes.

The interior is richly appointed in the Jacobean revival style fashionable in the late 19th century, with a grand staircase and ornate public rooms. Extensive use was made of faience produced at the Burmantoft Works in Leeds. Most of this survives, though much is painted over and obscured by modern panelling and wall coverings.

The hotel is entered through renewed main entrance doors into a lobby divided by a modern glazed partition. The rear part has modern half-panelling to the walls and a flight of steps forming the lower part of the grand staircase, giving access to the elevated ground floor. The entrance hall is carpeted, but the original mosaic floor with Grecian motifs and borders is understood to remain beneath. The walls have modern wall coverings and are half-panelled, but the original extensive and ornate faience decorative scheme remains behind, with original elements such as projecting cornices visible in the upper parts. The faience continues to the ceiling, which is divided into several bays by beams decorated with a guilloche pattern, each panelled bay having diaper decoration. A large enriched atrium pierces the ceiling at the rear of the hall and extends upwards through all floors, though now infilled at fourth floor level with a plaster ceiling from which hangs a large chandelier. Two opposing elegant baroque door cases stand either side of the hall. The original reception kiosk located between two of these openings has been removed, probably in the mid-1930s refurbishment, the space now occupied by a three-bay art deco glazed partition. The rear wall of the reception hall is pierced by an enlarged opening created in the mid-1930s when the hall was extended southwards. This area houses the present modern reception and has 20th-century wall coverings, panelling and door cases.

The open-well staircase has ornate cast iron newel posts and scrolled and floriated balustrades with a mahogany ramped handrail with scrolled ends. Marble facings at the end of each tread give the impression of a fully marble staircase. The stair ascends to the four upper floors, lit by an elaborate stair window to each floor. Within each large landing, a rectangular well is set to the rear with ornate cast iron balustrade matching the main stair. The soffits of the staircase are richly decorated with painted-over faience. A richly patterned dado of unpainted buff, dark brown and cream faience tiles with moulded plinth remains visible on the staircase and landing walls throughout. The richly adorned coved ceiling to the stairwell, with elaborate cornice, is divided into panels surrounding a decorative glass roof light (painted over), from which a chandelier is suspended from a central boss and extends down to the ground floor.

Within the east wing, a richly adorned corridor leads from the entrance hall to a number of former public rooms. The ornate coved ceiling is divided into panels decorated with various motifs including scallop shells. The corridor is extensively covered in faience tiling, mostly painted over, and has a central Ionic colonnade to either side bearing an entablature, with elaborate central door cases and double six-panel doors. The former Dining Room (Windsor) to the right has a panelled oak dado, parquet floor and elaborate cornice. The north wall incorporates Ionic pilasters, and walls overall are divided into plaster panels now filled with modern wallpaper. At either end is an original fireplace and ornate chimneypiece. The ceiling is divided into three bays with a simple decorative motif. To the left of the large bay window is a stained glass window, overpainted, and to the right a similar window is obscured by a later panel. The former Reading and Writing Room (Balmoral) on the left has a parquet floor and original half-height mahogany panelling. The south wall incorporates Ionic pilasters and entablature. The elaborate coved ceiling is divided by geometric patterns with circular and star-shaped motifs and a rectangular border. At either end are Jacobean-style mahogany chimneypieces with mirrored overmantles. At the end of the corridor, an ornate baroque entrance with replacement double doors leads into the former Coffee Room (Victoria Suite). This has a parquet floor and panelling to dado level with walls above divided into panels. The five-bay ceiling is divided by beams supported by four Corinthian columns. The sides and soffits of the beams are richly decorated with scrolled and guilloche plasterwork, and the ceiling panels have central roses. The main entrance has an elaborate plaster door case incorporating a clock. A modern bar is set into one corner. Within the west wing to the right of the entrance hall, art deco double doors set into an original ornate door case lead into a former lounge (Empire Bar) with a coffered ceiling and moulded panels to the walls. The extreme west end of this west wing was remodelled as a booking hall in the late 19th century, retaining an original central timber booking office now in use as a bar and accessed from the street (Science Bar).

The east wing has a similar arrangement of public rooms to that of the ground floor. A plain corridor leads from the landing, with moulded plaster cornices and arches springing from corbels, with moulded plaster panels to the walls. A former ladies' lavatory (Porter's Store) retains painted-over faience tiles and a plaster cornice. A former drawing room next to this (Grainger) could not be inspected but is understood to have a panelled ceiling. A former sitting room (Grey) was originally accessed from the drawing room through openings with five-panelled doors; it has a cornice, chair and plate rail, and a panelled ceiling. Two further sitting rooms (Sandringham and Neville) are simply adorned with moulded cornices, skirtings, chimneypieces and walls divided into moulded panels with corner bosses, now infilled with modern wallpaper. A gentlemen's lavatory has a terrazzo floor, tiled walls and a full complement of Adamzez Limited 'Radio' urinals, the scheme thought to date to the late 1930s. At the east end of the corridor, double doors and a short straight flight of stairs with out-turned cast iron balustrade and handrail give entry to the Banqueting Room added in 1924. Its interior scheme is 18th-century style, with an ornate internal plaster door case, a coffered ceiling with enriched panels, and side walls divided by fluted pilasters with foliate capitals into panels. A modern bar is set into one corner. A single room (Dobson) is set to the rear of the landing and entered through ornate eight-panelled double doors. This has a coffered ceiling with fluted soffits and half-height timber panelling throughout, with plain walls above. In the west wall, the panelling rises higher in the form of a round pediment incorporating a clock.

A series of public rooms are set to the east end of the basement, formerly comprising a Smoking Room and a Billiard Room incorporating a refreshment bar. They have been opened out to form a single space (Jalou). The rooms were formerly accessed from the ground floor by a marble stair that retains its mahogany ramped handrail and is lit by a large stained and leaded glass stair window, with walls and ceiling extensively covered in decorative faience tiles. The former Smoking Room with a single bay window has a pair of tiled Corinthian columns either side of an entrance from the street, and the original architrave to an entrance in the south wall remains (doors removed). The original faience scheme applied to the walls throughout is visible as a frieze and cornice, in the window reveals and elsewhere; it appears to continue behind the modern wall coverings throughout. The former billiard room lies beyond to the east with an original faience tiled ceiling in a lattice pattern of buff and cream tiles and has a similar survival of faience tiling to the walls. A modern bar obscures the remainder of this room. Floor coverings are of timber, but it is thought that original mosaic floors remain below.

All floors within both the west and east wings retain their original plans of a spine corridor with rooms to either side. Doors and architraves throughout are mostly original. Former communal bathrooms remain as stores, some with evidence of their former use such as terrazzo floors and the remains of cubicles. Many bedrooms have inserted ensuite bathrooms, and ensuites have been created in other rooms by converting existing adjoining spaces; all ensuites have modern sanitary ware. A sample of rooms was inspected on each floor.

The west wing corridors are entered through modern double doors, and the wing has a separate staircase with cast iron balusters and a wooden handrail giving access to all floors. Room doors are five-panel to the later 19th-century addition, which also has corbelled supports to the ceilings, and four-panel to the original lower floors, with the exception of the lower third floor which has four-panel replacement doors throughout. Inspected rooms within the later 19th-century addition retain simple cornices, chimney breasts and, it is understood, hearths beneath the modern carpet. Attic rooms have coved ceilings and some rooms have panelling to the windows. Inspected rooms within the lower, original build have moulded cornices and one fireplace with a timber surround was visible.

The east wing has some corridors revealing painted-over faience tiles, and all have original five-panel doors. Some corridors have a timber and glazed partition mid-way on the south side leading to the service staircase and former communal lavatories and bathroom, the latter retaining elements of the original plaster coving. The third floor has ornate plaster arches beneath the ceiling support beams. Inspected rooms have chimney breasts and moulded cornices. The rear extension is entered through an arched opening with a moulded cornice to the corridors and three-panel doors set within 18th-century style architraves. The former eight rooms to each floor have been knocked through to create four, but the obsolete doors are retained. Some inspected rooms retain moulded cornices, some obscured above suspended ceilings, and attic rooms have coved ceilings.

A service stair within the east wing communicates with all floors and has stick balusters and a timber handrail with glazed brick walls to most areas. Paired lifts are located on the landings of each floor within the east wing, and an original laundry room remains on the fourth floor landing. The ground floor servery and former Plate Room located on the ground floor east wing corridor are relatively plain, but the former has a simple moulded cornice and an arched recess and the latter retains plain tiles. The servery remains in use and has modern fittings and appliances. Within the basement, west of the public rooms, a full-length spine corridor is partly clad in cream ceramic brick and gives access to original kitchens and associated service rooms, many with arched entrances, internal alcoves and ceramic glazed ceilings; all are fitted with modern kitchen fittings and appliances. Other rooms off the spine corridor within the west wing provide storage including vaulted wine cellars and beer stores.

A low, stepped ashlar stone wall with copings and replacement railings is set to the front of the Neville Street and Orchard Street elevations.

Post-war fittings and finishes including signage, joinery, suspended ceilings, cladding, partitions and plant, paired lifts and fire escapes, sanitary ware and kitchen fittings throughout the building are not of special architectural or historic interest. Also excluded from the listing are the roofs of the station canopies attached to the rear elevation and a range of stone walling and service equipment and its housing also attached to the rear, in addition to the north wall of the ramped station access at the east end.