The Hop Market

The Hop Market is a large hotel and bank, dating from 1900, with later alterations and conversions to shops around 1980. The architect was said to be Alfred B Rowe, of Henry Rowe and Son. It is constructed of red brick and terracotta, with a concealed roof, and incorporates elements of the French chateau and Tudor styles. The building has an L-shaped plan with an inner courtyard, extending three storeys with attics, seven bays to the main facade on The Foregate and six bays to the left return on Sansome Street.

The main facade features Doric pilasters between bays on each floor, with capitals incorporated into a modillion cornice. There is an arcaded eaves band. Bows are present to the second, fourth, and sixth bays on the first and second floors, each featuring central round-arched lights with casement windows and fanlights; radial glazing bars feature between transomed lights, all set within tooled architraves. Four-light windows with Ionic column-on-vase mullions and transoms are found in alternating bays on the first floor, with a segmental bow window on the left; above these, on the second floor, are three round-arched windows with a continuous entablature and Ionic columns on plinths. Bands between floors include carved panels to the bows, and carved inscriptions reading 'HOP MARKET / COMMERCIAL / HOTEL / BANK' in alternate bays. Attic dormers have shaped pedimental features, and gables have shaped pediments with scrolls, urns and finials. The curved angle on the left has similar two-light fenestration and is crowned by a domed cupola with detached columns supporting a broken entablature with scrolls above. The ground floor includes an elliptically-arched carriageway to the third bay and an entrance with a segmental pediment on brackets to the seventh bay, with similar fenestration to that on the first floor. The Sansome Street elevation is of a similar design, featuring one bow to the fifth bay, which has an elliptically-arched entrance with a scrolled broken pediment featuring putti, festoons, and swags on the ground floor.

The interior was not inspected. According to Pevsner, the building has “a dash of the Loire” and incorporates “Some Tudor touches”. The building occupies an important corner site at the junctions of Sansome Street, Foregate Street, Shaw Street and The Foregate, forming a significant streetscape feature and contributing to group value while framing the view toward the High Street.