Monkey Island Hotel

The Monkey Island Hotel, originally a fishing lodge, is now a restaurant and bar. It was built around 1738 for Charles Spencer, the third Duke of Marlborough, and has undergone extensions in the 19th century and the mid-20th century. The hotel was refurbished in 1986-7 by Denby and Badnell. The building is constructed of timber framing with painted, rusticated wooden walls, and painted brick, with slate roofs, including a hipped roof over part and flat roofs to the 20th-century extensions.

The original lodge is octagonal and two storeys high, with a single-storey projection at the front known as the Monkey Room, topped with a pediment. The first floor of the octagonal section was the Duke’s bedroom. Large extensions have been added to the rear and sides, varying in height from one to two storeys. A central chimney serves the octagonal part.

The south front (the main entrance) features a central section with the original octagonal lodge, which has Diocletian windows with glazing bars and wide eaves supported by shaped wooden brackets. A pedimented projection sits in front of the lodge. Flanking the central section are two 19th-century gabled sections, each with two sash windows on the first floor. The left gable projects slightly forward, while the right gable is set back and larger.

In 1987, the single-storey section of the front was re-faced with a central canted bay leading to the Monkey Room, featuring a half-glazed door. On each side of the bay are eight bays of curtain glazing, supported by rendered wooden pilasters with rusticated coursing and a cornice, parapet, and coping. The three bays on the left have decorative glazing, with the middle bay featuring the entrance doors beneath a semi-circular head within a pediment. The remaining five bays have plain glazing. The seven bays on the right also have decorative glazing, with a plain bay incorporating a pedimented top within the parapet line. The first three bays of this section are similar to those on the left but without the entrance doors.

Inside, the Monkey Room has a splayed ceiling with paintings by Francois Clermont from 1740 depicting fishing scenes; these were restored in 1987 by Piotz Koneczny. The room has a panelled dado and a notable chimney piece.