Summary
Former offices of the Preston and Wyre Railway and attached hotel range to the left, 1836-41, to designs by Decimus Burton for Sir Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood. The C20 rear range to No. 124 is not of special interest and is not included in the listing.
Reasons for Designation
The former offices of the Preston and Wyre Railway and attached hotel range, of mid-C19 date, are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: as part of the mid-C19 purpose-built, architect-designed, planned new town of Fleetwood;
* Architectural interest: an elegant mid-C19 exterior with architectural detailing including strip pilasters, bracketed hood moulds and moulded cornices;
* Architect: built under the supervision and probably to the designs of Decimus Burton, one of the most eminent architects of the C19.
History
In the early C19 Sir Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood (1801-1866) planned a new town on his estate at Rossall on the Wyre Estuary. The new town was envisaged as a flourishing holiday resort and seaport and was to be one of the first towns to be planned around a new railway. Decimus Burton (1800-1881), one of the most eminent architects of the C19, was commissioned to design and supervise the construction of the town, plans for which were completed by 1835, and the construction of the first buildings and a railway line began the following year. Burton advocated Greek Revival architecture and his design for Fleetwood embraced its principles. He produced a geometric plan featuring formal squares and crescents and radial roads to ensure symmetry of design. Although the use of brick was widespread in the area, Burton’s preference for the appearance of stone led him to insist that the brickwork was covered with stucco and painted to imitate Bath Stone. By 1841 less than a third of the planned town had been constructed and the costly project as originally conceived was never completed. As a C19 purpose-built, architect-designed, new town, Fleetwood is unusual amongst other post-medieval towns in England. Nos 124 and 126 Dock Street are included on Decimus Burton's design plan for Fleetwood of 1841 and are therefore considered to have been built under his supervision and probably to his design. No. 124 was the first to be constructed as offices for the Preston and Wyre Railway followed by No. 126, which is annotated 'Hotel' on the first edition Ordnance Survey map published in 1848.
No. 124 has undergone several conversions to other uses including a sports club and various nightclubs; in the C20 it received a long, full-width rear single-storey extension. No. 126 was converted to twelve apartments in the later C20.
Details
Former offices of the Preston and Wyre Railway and attached hotel range to the left, 1836-41, to designs by Decimus Burton for Sir Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood.
MATERIALS: red brick, rendered with stucco and painted to imitate Bath Stone.
PLAN: L-shaped on a corner site.
EXTERIOR: the former railway offices (No. 124) are situated at the right end and comprise a three-bay two-storey building with a moulded pediment and gable chimney stacks. A wide central entrance reached by stone steps has an over light and is flanked to each side by nine-over-nine sliding sash windows. A band separates the floors, and each of the first floor bays is demarcated by giant strip pilasters rising to an upper band, each with a similar but taller window to those of the ground floor, set within moulded frames; the central window has a hood mould in the form of a moulded cornice on scrolled consoles. To the rear is a long, single-storey, full-width, flat-roofed extension, which is not of special interest and is not included in the listing. Attached to the left of No. 124 is a six-bay three-storey, plus basement, former hotel range (No. 126) with the first three bays slightly projecting; there is a low parapet and a band between the ground and first floor and a tall axial central chimney. Tall windows occupy the first floor and that to the second bay has a bracketed hood mould and those to bays three to six have moulded cornices. There is a plain entrance in bay three protected by an open porch. To the front is a narrow area with cast iron railings with urn and spear finials. The left return of nine bays is similarly detailed with a parapet and a band between the ground and first floor and the first three bays slightly project. Bays two and eight to the first floor have moulded cornices on scrolled consoles. There are four doorways (one now blocked and one turned into a window) reached by stone steps and there is a narrow area to the front with railings. Windows throughout the building have replacement C20 frames.
INTERIOR: not inspected.
