Jessop House Hotel

Jessop House Hotel is a house in a row, dating to the early 18th century and now operating as a hotel. The building is notable for its group value and architectural significance.

The front facade is constructed of brick, with all headers visible on the street front, and is topped by a slate roof. A bold modillion cornice defines the front block, which features a main staircase and reception rooms. The main block is three storeys high with a basement, and has a three-window front. All windows are sash windows set within rubbed brick arches, each with a fluted stone key to the cornice and moulded stone sills. The first-floor windows have twelve panes, while the others are simpler. A Doric doorcase with a triglyph frieze and moulded pediment provides access to a throughway, and includes a six-panel door. A grille is present in the basement, and a flat brick stack is on the right side. The passageway has a side entry with a six-panel flush door, having fielded panels inside.

A two-storey and attic wing, also in brick, is three-windowed and features segmental arches over the windows. A broad four-pane sash window sits above a 18th-century three-light casement with transom in the kitchen, and two four-pane windows are above three twelve-pane windows. The passageway floor is stone flagged, with a fine five-panel fielded door leading to a rear unit with a pyramidal slate roof. This unit is three storeys high with two windows, twelve-pane sashes above four-pane sashes, both featuring voussoirs with a fluted keystone, cornice, and deep stone cills. A central door set within a wide segmental arch, also with a keystone, is at ground floor.

The interior includes two basements, accessed by a dividing brick staircase with timber nosings. The front basement has a transverse beam on corbel, while the back basement features a transverse brick barrel vault over a brick floor. The entrance hall is floored with Portland stone slabs and has two good 18th-century six-panel doors in eared architraves, alongside an open-well staircase with a scrolled open string, turned balusters, a swept handrail, and dado panelling. One front room has a replacement fireplace, a flat moulded cornice, and large panel panelling including a dado rail, with papered panels. Another front room spans the full width and features a reeded painted fire surround and a cast-iron grate, with a moulded cornice featuring floral scrollwork. A back room contains a good 18th-century fireplace with an eared surround, incorporating a Delft tile inset to a cast-iron grate. The staircase to the second floor has stick balusters. One cupboard features 17th-century panelling used as a door. The building appears to be a complete rebuilding on the site of an earlier structure, and is notable for its 18th-century date and retention of a characteristic side entry, a feature common to earlier townhouses in Tewkesbury.