Bell Hotel

BELL HOTEL, TEWKESBURY

Hotel. Dated 1696 in a plaster panel above the porch (Jacob Kingsbury); with large 19th or early 20th-century extensions. The original building is close-studded timber-frame with mid-rails, rendered panels and underbuild; the extensions are in painted brick or rendered finish, some with timber-framing. The roofs are tiled with brick stacks.

The plan is a compact 17th-century arrangement with a 3-room front range. The main front faces east along Church Street, featuring 3 gables over a double-jettied structure with single gable returns, and a small wing adjacent to Gloucester Road possibly of the same date. The entrance is at the left end, leading to a lobby with 2 principal heated rooms to the right, which share a stack. A long wing extends towards Mill Street, with a large extension to the west facing the car park.

The main front is 2 storeys with an attic. The attic has small 3-light casements; the first floor has 3:5:3-light casements with transom in the centre bays and a 3-light casement with transom to the first bay; at ground floor to the right of the door are 2 tripartite sashes with glazing bars. The casement windows have moulded bars and rectangular leading. A broad open-gabled porch on Doric pilasters with timber-panelled cheeks covers an early 5-panel door under a fanlight. A large brick ridge stack with 2 diagonal flues stands near the right gable. The right return gable is in box framing with plaster panels, linked by a canted single-storey flat-roofed unit to a long 19th-century two-storey brick gabled wing following Mill Street. The left return gable is also box-framed above a rendered ground floor, with one casement at first floor and a sash at ground floor. All gables in the cross-gabled front block have deep soffits.

On Gloucester Road, a one-bay rendered wing has a 3-light 18th-century gabled dormer above a 16-pane sash at first floor and two 20th-century lights at ground floor. Its steep tiled roof reaches the ridge height of the main building and appears to be of the same date. Beyond this is a large 19th or early 20th-century wing with some framing, linked to the earlier wing by a part-framed 2-storey unit. The return to the west towards the car park has an entrance door at the far right, adjacent to a large external eaves stack.

The interior has been considerably altered, though some 17th-century work survives at ground-floor level. The porch opens to a large entrance lobby with 20th-century panelling and fittings. To the right, the lounge contains a chamfered central beam with added cornice mouldings, an open framed partition to the bar in square panel pegged framing (possibly the original outer wall), and a large stone-cheeked fireplace with a 19th-century stone lintel. At the opposite end are 2 panels of 17th-century painted wall decoration under glass. Beyond is a smaller room also with a central chamfered beam and a 19th-century stone fireplace with wood surround. Beyond the lobby is a staircase hall with a small winder staircase with stick balustrade. At the head of this stair is a good 17th-century plank door.

The Bell occupies an important position in Church Street, facing east opposite the Abbey church, at a slight offset from the street line. Probably built on the site of a medieval hostelry, it is generally assumed to be the original of Phineas Fletcher's house in Mrs Craik's "John Halifax, Gentleman", and lies close to the Abbey Mill which also features prominently in the novel. Externally it presents a fine example of a 17th-century inn.