33 London Street

This building began as a scientific and mechanics’ institution, completed in 1843 to designs by William Brown. It was later converted into a Primitive Methodist Chapel in 1866, then to a cinema in the 1940s or 1950s, followed by offices in the late 20th century. Currently, it functions as a hotel and public house, having been adapted for this purpose in the early 21st century.

The building is constructed primarily of cream-coloured stone, possibly Bath Stone, with a granite base on its west-facing front elevation. The side walls and rear elevation are built of red brick in English bond. The roof is covered in slate.

The building has a long, rectangular plan, three storeys high plus a basement, extending eastwards from London Street. The upper two floors are divided into two ranges: a shorter front range to the west and a longer rear range to the east, linked by a narrower section including a vestibule, featuring a curved south elevation.

The main west-facing elevation is designed in a neoclassical style, imitating a portico. A granite base supports a pair of pilasters on either side, with paired Ionic half-columns flanking the central bay. Above are an entablature and a triangular pediment. When originally listed in 1957, the frieze displayed the inscription ‘Primitive Methodist Chapel 1866’, which is now absent. The raised ground floor features banded rustication, with a string course of Greek key pattern above the first-floor sill height. The main entrance is centrally located on the raised ground floor, comprising a pair of ten-panelled doors accessed by four stone steps. Flanking the entrance are tripartite sash windows, with a central six-over-six sash flanked by narrower two-over-two sashes, separated by rusticated stone mullions. The first and second floors each have three timber-sash windows within moulded architraves; the first floor windows are six-over-six, while the second floor windows are three-over-three. The first-floor architraves to the two outer bays include cornices, while the central architrave has a pediment supported on scroll brackets.

The north and south elevations expose red brickwork, punctuated by ranges of sash and casement windows on each floor, all of 20th-century origin. A two-storey projection is centrally placed on the rear (east) elevation, featuring a timber casement window on both ground and first floors, topped by a hipped roof.

It is understood that some original fixtures and fittings remain within the building’s interior.