Former Albion House

Details

KINGSTON UPON HULL

680-1/17/15 ALBION STREET 13-OCT-52 FORMER ALBION HOUSE (Formerly listed as: ALBION STREET THE INSTITUTE PUBLIC HOUSE AND RESTAUR ANT) (Formerly listed as: ALBION STREET CHURCH INSTITUTE) (Formerly listed as: ALBION STREET ALBION HOUSE)

II House, circa 1846, for Sir James Alderson by H.F. Lockwood. Converted into the Church Institute (a Methodist club) 1864, altered 1990s as a public house, extensively renovated as a hotel 2006.

MATERIALS Brick with sandstone ashlar facade. Roof hidden from view. Modern replacement joinery.

EXTERIOR Front (south) elevation: Symmetrical, Classical facade of five bays, three storeys over basement. A flight of steps accesses the raised ground floor and a central portico with paired Doric columns, which support a balustraded balcony at first floor level. The portico covers a double doorway with a rectangular overlight and a moulded door case, flanked by narrow side lights. The ground floor windows (the joinery being modern French windows) have stone architraves and shallow balustraded balconies in front supported on scroll brackets. The basement windows below also have modern style joinery and have unadorned openings with shallow arched lintels. The first floor window openings each have eared architraves with a pulvinated frieze topped by a cornice without consoles, and a narrow sill band. Below each window there is a balustrade-style frieze with a projecting stringcourse below. The windows are modern 6 over 6 horned sashes. The second floor windows are 3 over 3 horned sashes with simple stone architraves rising from a sill band. The elevation is topped by a parapet wall formed with a simple frieze and a moulded cornice supported by modillions. The shallow pitched roof lacks chimneys and cannot be seen from the ground.

Set back to the right hand side of the main frontage there is an additional bay. This is finished in render with sill bands to the first and second floors, and window joinery to match the main facade. This is a modern extension that is not of special interest.

Right (east) side elevation: Two bays, originally detailed in a similar fashion to the front elevation. The bay to the left (towards the front) survives, that to the right (rear) has been largely covered by a modern extension.

Left (west) side elevation: Mainly obscured by the neighbouring building

Rear (north) elevation: This is brick built and plainer in detail, with later extensions.

INTERIOR The inner vestibule has a doorway with an arched fanlight, which leads to the central stair hall with a sweeping, cantilevered stone staircase to the right accessing the first floor. The staircase has decorative iron supporting brackets; some being modern replacements to match the originals. The staircase balustrade is a modern replacement. The stair hall features four Ionic columns that are thought to be original. The basement has a brick barrel-vaulted ceiling supported by iron beams on brick pillars, similar to fireproof designs used in C19 textile mills and warehouses. The rest of the interior is largely a product of the extensive and sympathetic renovation work undertaken in 2006.

HISTORY The building was originally built c.1846 as a private house for a local physician, Sir James Alderson, and is attributed to the Hull based architect H.F. Lockwood. In the mid-C19 the Albion Street area was highly desirable amongst the wealthier professional classes, and a number of physicians and surgeons who worked at the nearby Royal Infirmary had houses on Albion Street. Most of these houses have since been demolished (some following bomb damage in the Second World War). In 1864 the house was sold for £1,418 to a Methodist organisation, the Church Institute, and it effectively became a private club with an extension added soon afterwards to provide a reading room and library. By 1900 the club had around 1,400 members. The Church Institute closed c.1960 and the building was vacant for 30 years, during which time it was subjected to vandalism. It was converted into a public house c.1990, resulting in various alterations to the interior and further minor extension to the rear and side. In 2006 the building was extensively renovated with Listed Building Consent and converted into a hotel.

SOURCES "Architectural Observation, Investigation and Recording at 'The Institute', Albion Street, Kingston-upon-Hull" unpublished report by Humber Field Archaeology, 2006.

Ivan and Elisabeth Hall, 'A New Picture of Georgian Hull' (York,1978/9), 34, 40-41, 115

Nikolaus Pevsner and David Neave, ' The Buildings of England, Yorkshire: York and the East Riding' (1972), 545

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION The former Albion Street Church Institute is designated at grade II for the following principal reasons:

* For the architectural interest of its Classical facade: a relatively rare survival of a large, grand, mid-C19 townhouse. * For the surviving features of the stair hall, which demonstrate the original grandeur of the interior. * Also the special interest of the basement's design in utilising fireproofing construction methods developed for textile mills and warehouses.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

387421

Legacy System:

LBS

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