Monkey Island Hotel

BRAY MONKEY ISLAND LANE SU 97 NW (north side, off) 10/25 Bray 25.5.55 Monkey Island Hotel G.V. I

Fishing lodge, now restaurant and bars. c 1738 for Charles Spencer, third Duke of Marlborough. Extended C19 and mid C20; refurbished 1986-7 by Denby and Badnell. Part timber framed with painted, rusticated, wooden walls, part painted brick. Slate roofs, hipped roof over part, flat roofs over C20 extensions. Oldest part, the lodge, is octagonal and 2 storeys with one storey built forward on front with a pediented top, known as The Monkey Room; the first floor was the Duke's bedroom. Large extensions at rear and at each side, of one and 2 storeys. Centre chimney to octagonal part. South (entrance) front: centre section; former lodge octagonal with Diocletian windows with glazing bars, wide eaves with shaped wooden brackets; pedimented projection in front of this; all with rusticated wooden walls. Each side of the centre section are two, C19 gables with shaped bargeboards, 2 sash windows in each on first floor; the left gable projects in front of the centre section; the right is set back and is larger. The whole of the single-storey section on this front has been re-faced in 1987, and consists of a central canted bay with half- glazed door to the Monkey Room, on each side of this are 8 bays of curtain glazing with rendered, wooden, pilasters with rusticated coursing; parapet with cornice, parapet and coping; all of the same material. On the left, the first 3 bays are of decorative glazing, the middle bay contains the entrance doors with a semi-circular head within a pediment; the other 5 bays have plain glazing. 7 bays on the right have decorative glazing, the 8th bay is plain with a pedimented top within the parapet depth. The first 3 bays of this section are similar to the 3 bays on the left, but without the entrance doors. Interior: Monkey Room has a splayed ceiling with paintings by Francois Clermont in 1740 depicting fishing scenes; restored in 1987 by Piotz Koneczny. The walls have a panelled dado, and there is a good chimney piece.

Listing NGR: SU9144179142