The Kent Hotel

The Kent Hotel is a public house dating from 1929, designed by Nowell Parr, with a rear extension added in 1934 by Hall Jones and Partners, also to Parr’s design. The building is constructed of red brick with machine tile roofs.

The south elevation is two storeys with a dormer attic, featuring a three-window range and a projecting central section with three attic gables. Recessed doorways are located to the right and left; the left-hand doorway (west) is sheltered by a moulded flat hood supported on scrolled consoles, leading to the saloon bar, while the right-hand doorway, under an open porch on a brick corner pier, provides access to the public bar. The central section has half-glazed double doors leading to the private bar, flanked by two-light leaded metal casements with stained glass and glazing bars. A six-light casement of similar design sits between the side doors and the central doorway. A continuous timber fascia runs above the windows. The first floor features a central canted bay window with four leaded metal casements, and a three-light window to the right and left. The central attic gable projects on scrolled brackets, featuring a single-light casement. The outer gables each have a two-light casement. There are two stacks on the front roof slope. A single-storey gabled west extension has a tripartite bay window with leaded glazing, alongside a half-glazed door to the left; this is topped by an overlight.

The rear of the building has a hipped, two-storey block with three-light leaded cross casements to the first floor and a central ridge stack. A single-storey covered terrace, added in 1934, obscures the ground floor. A rebuilt central external staircase leads to a garden, rising to two double-leaf glazed doors in a short extension, with return glazed doors. Two twin-flight external staircases, dating from 1929, originally led to an open terrace; the western staircase serves part of the original terrace, while the eastern staircase leads to double glazed doors and a two-light leaded casement to its left.

The interior is divided into three front bars, each with high dado panelling, timber chimneypieces with cast-iron inserts, bench seating, panelled bridging beams, and remote winder window openers. Six-panelled doors connect the private bar to the others, and a curved panelled bar counter serves all three. The rear bar is in two parts; the south part, formerly a dining room, retains panelled bridging beams, small-framed dado panelling and an elaborate carved timber chimneypiece with a carved overmantel mirror and cast-iron fire insert. The west wall features three six-panelled doors leading to cloakrooms and a private entrance lobby. A section of the north wall was broken through in 1934, with the ceiling supported on three steel piers and incorporating panelled bridging beams and two domed glazed roof lights with glazing bars set in geometric patterns with coloured glass.