42, 44 AND 44A, HIGH STREET

This building on High Street, Sittingbourne, is a three-story block built in 1708 by Robert Jeffs, originally known as Rose Place. It later became the Rose Inn, described in Hasted's "History of Kent" as the most impressive inn in the kingdom, offering exceptional entertainment. In 1825, the Duchess of Kent and Princess Victoria were guests, leading to the building's renaming as the Royal Victoria Hotel. Its function as a hotel ended when the railway diminished Sittingbourne’s role as a coaching station on the Dover Road.

The building is constructed of brown brick with red brick window dressings, capped by a tiled roof and a wooden cornice with modillion details and consoles beneath some of the modillions. There are six sash windows on the upper floors, most retaining their original glazing bars. A stone plaque between the first and second floors features a depiction of a red rose, the letters "RI", and the date 1708. The ground floor now has modern shop fronts.

Nos 30 to 62 (even) form a group.