Queen's Hotel

The Queen's Hotel is a late 19th-century hotel, constructed between 1898 and 1901. It was built for Pickersgills' Brewery of Pontefract and was intended to serve patrons of Pontefract Racecourse arriving at the nearby Tanshelf railway station, which has since been demolished. The building is constructed of red brick in English bond, with yellow terracotta dressings and Westmorland slate roofs. It has three storeys, a cellar, and attics, with a layout of 1:3:1:3:1 bays. The end bays project as canted turrets, and the centre bay forms a canted projection. The ground floor features terracotta cladding; round-arched openings with recessed, panelled doors and fanlights with Art Nouveau glazing are found in the fourth and sixth bays, and round-arched windows with etched plate glass are in the second, third, seventh, and eighth bays. These round-arched openings have raised keystones and alternating voussoirs. Windows have sill bands and imposts that align with the straight-headed windows in the canted bays, which themselves feature transoms and joggled voussoirs to their lintels, along with cornices above. The first floor has balconies and pediments to the centre bay, with remnants of original balconies in the other bays, resting on existing corbels. Cross windows with sashes are present, and a cornice runs across the floor. The second floor features paired round-arched sash windows in each bay, with single sashes and keystones to the outer turrets, and flat-headed windows to the centre canted bay. The end turrets have spirelets, and the centrepiece has a Dutch gable containing three round-arched sash windows, surmounted by a pyramidal roof with railings around the apex. The steeply pitched main roof has two dormer windows, above a parapet displaying the hotel's name. The rear elevation is much plainer and of an irregular plan. The left return has a 1:2 bay arrangement, while the right return consists of three bays similar to the front. The interior retains almost all of its original fittings, including a staircase with good cast-iron balusters.