Lansdowne Arms Hotel And Former Coach House, Stable And Brewhouse

Lansdowne Arms Hotel and Former Coach House, Stable and Brewhouse, The Strand, Calne

This is a substantial hotel complex formed from the amalgamation of up to five domestic properties, with associated stable, brewery, and coach house buildings arranged around a rear courtyard. The main building dates from the mid to late 17th century at its left-hand end, was refronted in the early 18th century, and underwent partial rebuilding in the mid-19th century. The complex also includes 18th and 19th century brewery and stable buildings to the rear. The building was formerly known as the Catherine Wheel Inn and is recorded as an inn from 1582.

The principal front elevation is a long 16-window range, two storeys with attic, rendered in painted limestone rubble with a prominent parapet and cornice. A segmental-arched carriage entrance, positioned three windows from the right, features a late 20th century door with bolection-moulded surrounds and flanking 6/6-pane sash windows. The left-hand range incorporates the original 17th century work, set back and distinguished by a coursed limestone gable, ground-floor string, coped end gable with finial and moulded kneelers, and 1:2 cyma-moulded cross windows with metal casements. A fire mark dated 1696, inscribed with initials MC and a lion, survives on the first floor of this section. A rebuilt gable end, dating to around 1866, displays 3-light cross windows to both storeys. A large wrought-iron carriage lamp hangs over the entrance, and a substantial round clock in a moulded surround is positioned toward the right-hand end.

The rear elevation reflects the building's composite origin, with irregular fenestration showing evidence of earlier domestic properties. A left-hand 1-window gabled stair tower contains an 18th century 6/6-pane first-floor stair light with thick bars and exposed frame. A wide central gable rises with two first-floor 6/6-pane sashes and an attic casement, while a two-storey right-hand lean-to carries paired first-floor 6/6-pane sashes. A date stone inscribed 1860 is visible on the rear elevation. The left-hand range is of coursed limestone rubble with a coursed limestone left-hand gable, while the rear blocks are of coursed rubble. The roof is of stone slate with slates and pantiles to the rear blocks, supported by five limestone ashlar ridge stacks.

The interior, though altered, retains evidence of earlier phases. A former through-passage leads to the rear courtyard, with a rear open-well stair to the left featuring column-on-vase balusters and a rear lateral passage. The left-hand end contains six bays with arch-braced collars, and moulded first-floor axial and lateral ceiling beams survive.

The southern former stable range is two storeys with a 4-window front and a right-hand segmental-arched carriage entrance. The mid-19th century western range, two storeys, faces the courtyard with ground and first-floor keyed segmental-arched windows with ashlar surrounds and first-floor 21/21-pane sashes, above paired segmental-arched doorways.

The mid-18th century northwestern range, raised on the slope's side, has a splayed entrance corner and hipped roof, with timber mullion windows beneath the eaves and a 19th century door with overlight. The Castle Street end is half-hipped with timber lintels.

The former brewery to the north side, dating from the early to mid-19th century, is of coursed rubble with brick dressings and quoins. It is three storeys with a 2-window range. Later windows have inserted concrete lintels and there is a partly blocked wide entrance. An octagonal banded brick gable chimney with cornice marks the left-hand end.

The former coach house, a 17th century structure of rubble with stone slate roof, is two storeys with attic and a 1-window range. An irregular front features quoins, a splayed right-hand corner, steep gable, wide entrance, an inserted first-floor window, and an attic window with ashlar surround.

The complex represents an important group of ancillary heritage buildings arranged around the rear courtyard, and the evidence of earlier properties visible in the rear elevation demonstrates the building's evolution from multiple domestic structures into its current unified hotel use.