323 High Street

Summary

Hotel built in the early C19, converted to a shop and altered during the C20.

History

Lincoln High Street is part of the major Roman road, Ermine Street, linking London to York. It has served as the principal route into the city from the south since the first century when a legionary fortress was established on what is now ‘Uphill’ Lincoln (the vicinity of the cathedral and castle). The fortress was later transformed into a civilian settlement, taking the name Colonia Lindum, from which its modern name is derived. The Roman town gradually expanded south along Ermine Street beyond the River Witham. This development pattern was largely re-established after the Vikings resettled the city during the C9. By the time of the Norman Conquest, both sides of Ermine Street appear to have been developed for some distance south of the river, but as late as the C18, development to the east and west of the High Street was mostly limited to the areas of the castle and cathedral in ‘Uphill’ Lincoln and along the riverfront in ‘Downhill’ Lincoln.

The land south of the River Witham witnessed considerable industrial and commercial growth during the late C18 and C19. The land to the east and west of the High Street was transformed into a network of workshops, factories and yards, a trend reinforced by the arrival of the Midland Railway in 1846, followed by the Great Northern Railway in 1848, which transformed a large swathe of the area into a complex of railway buildings, storehouses and sidings. The High Street witnessed gradual redevelopment throughout this period, creating the largely C19 streetscape seen today, although a significant number of pre-industrial buildings have survived, often hidden behind later facades.

323 High Street is a former hotel constructed between the 1840s and 1860s, probably on the site of an earlier inn. The establishment operated as the Queen Hotel as early as 1842, and this name is carried on the parapet of the building’s Italianate western elevation. The southernmost bay of the building was historically a carriage entrance providing access to a long rear range and a passageway extending east to join with Sincil Street. By the 1960s, the greater part of the rear range had been demolished and the carriage entrance appears to have been incorporated into the hotel, removing access to the rear yard.

The building continued to operate as the Queen Hotel until the 1970s. The late C20 saw the building converted into a restaurant and then a record shop. In 1990, the ground floor facade was reconfigured and a substantial rear extension was added, wrapping around the existing rear range. In 2019, the building was converted from a shop into a fast-food restaurant.

Details

Hotel built in the early C19, converted to a shop and altered during the C20.

MATERIALS: the building is constructed of brick with a stuccoed principal elevation and a plain-tile roof covering.

PLAN: the building stands on the east side of High Street, facing west.

EXTERIOR: The building’s principal, western range fronting the High Street is of three storeys plus basement across four bays, the southernmost bay being slightly wider. The western elevation is stuccoed with Italianate detailing, channelled on the ground floor. The three northern bays of the ground floor contain a very wide glazed shopfront with moulded surrounds above a stone or stucco plinth painted black, while the southernmost bay contains a segmental-arched doorway. There are two, barred basement lights beneath the shop front. Above the shopfront runs a moulded band with floral motifs intersected by brackets supporting a cill band to the first-floor windows.

There are four windows each on the first and second floors, all of which are two-pane timber sashes set within moulded architraves. The first-floor window surrounds are more elaborate and carry bracketed cornices. Between each pair of first- and second-floor windows is a moulded apron with a central floral boss. Above the second-floor windows runs a bracketed cornice with similar floral bosses to the second-floor panels. Above the cornice is a stucco parapet with the raised lettering: QUEEN HOTEL, concealing the pitched roof sloping towards the High Street.

To the rear of the principal range is a much larger, two-to three-storey range, largely rebuilt in the late-C20, of red brick under a part-pitched, part-flat roof. The north flank of this range retains a large area of C19 brickwork where it adjoins the front range. The east and south elevations, along with the eastern end of the north elevation, are blank at ground- and first-floor level, with a range of windows in the floor of the south elevation and a single, late-C20 window on the east elevation.

Listing NGR: SK9749371007

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

486037

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Harris, J, Antram, N, The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire, (1989), 523

Other
Padley, James, Map of Lincoln (1842),accessed 22 January 2021 at [http://www.heritageconnectlincoln.com/character-area/high-street/104/maps-and-photos?tab=map]
OS 1:500 Town Plan of Lincoln(surveyed 1888, accessed 22 January 2021at [https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/497563/371042/13/100257]
OS 25” Lincolnshire LXX.7(Canwick; Lincoln) (revised 1904-05, published 1907), accessed 22 January 2021 at [https://maps.nls.uk/view/114649050]
OS 25” Lincolnshire LXX.7 (Canwick; Lincoln) (revised 1930, published 1932), accessed 22 January 2021 at [https://maps.nls.uk/view/114649053]
OS 1:1250 Map of Lincoln(surveyed 1967), accessed 22 January 2021 at [https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/497563/371042/13/101329]

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.

Print the official list entry