Great Western Hotel, Newquay
The Great Western Hotel is the oldest purpose built hotel in Newquay, Cornwall. The hotel was originally designed by the Cornish architect Silvanus Trevail and first opened in April 1879. The hotel is built in a prominent position overlooking Great Western Beach.
| Great Western Hotel | |
|---|---|
 Front of the hotel | |
  Location within Cornwall | |
| Alternative names | The Great Western |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Art-Deco (1931) |
| Address | Great Western Hotel, 36-37 Cliff Road, Newquay, Cornwall, TR7 2NE |
| Town or city | Newquay, Cornwall |
| Coordinates | 50°24′59″N 5°04′31″W |
| Construction started | 1878 |
| Completed | January 1879 |
| Opened | 7 April 1879 |
| Renovated | 2007 |
| Renovation cost | £1.1 Million |
| Owner |
|
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Silvanus Trevail |
| Architecture firm | F.C West (1931) |
| Renovating team | |
| Architect | Nova Design Partnership |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 66 |
| Website | |
| https://www.greatwesternnewquay.co.uk/ | |
The hotel has 66 rooms, some with sea-views.[1]
History
It was decided in 1878 that a hotel would be built because of the ever increasing Great Western Railway passenger service to Newquay. In September 1878, Mr. Whitefield, solicitor, applied for a licence for it to be called Great Western.[2] The Great Western Railway gave £2,000 towards the building of the hotel. The architecture of the hotel was by Silvanus Trevail, who later designed the Headland Hotel.[3] In January 1879 the hotel was completed and it officially opened on 7 April 1879.[4] The original 1879 building resembled a large country house with pitched roofs, gable ends and attic windows.[3]
"The Great Western Hotel, at Newquay, opened for business on Monday, the 7th instant. The situation is all that can be desired, commanding magnificent views of the headland, harbour, and the coast up to Trevose Head. It is said there are fifty rooms. The architect was Mr. Silvanus Trevail. Doubtless the establishment will be appreciated by visitors to this delightful coast."[5]
Trevail's Great Western Hotel was the first in a string of hotels designed to appeal to renewed interest in Cornwall as a winter resort for the middle classes.[6]
The hotel was described in a Newquay holiday guide as having "Spacious Billiard & Coffee Rooms". The Hotel was the first to have en-suite rooms. The first owners of the hotel were basket makers and bathing machine proprietors. In 1909, the first generation of the Hooper family took over the hotel.[7] In 1931 the original modest two storey gabled building was altered beyond recognition to its art-deco style.[3]
St Austell Brewery purchased the property in 1985 and in 2007 a £1.1 million refurbishment project commenced. This included extensive ground floor alterations, complete external painting, replacement of windows, bedroom refurbishment and landscape gardening of outside areas to create an extensive “al fresco dining” terrace.[1]
The hotel and the owning family is mentioned in Emma Smith's 2008 memoir, The Great Western Beach, describing her childhood in Cornwall between the two World Wars.
References
- "Great Western Hotel Newquay" (PDF).
- Harper, Sheila (2013-11-15). Newquay Through Time. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-4456-1326-0.
- Ronald, Perry (29 November 2008). Silvanus Trevail: Cornish Architect and Entrepreneur. United Kingdom: Francis Boutle. p. 7. ISBN 978-1903427439.
- "Great Western Hotel Newquay 1909 (The Common Room) Page 4 RootsChat.Com". www.rootschat.com. Retrieved 2019-12-06.
- "The Intelligence". The West Briton & Cornwall advertiser. April 24, 1879.
- bwdeacon (2020-07-07). "Tourism: cure or curse?". Cornish studies resources. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
- Smith, Emma (2008). The Great Western Beach. United Kingdom: Bloomsbury. pp. 38. ISBN 978-0-7475-9591-5.