General view of Bute House Hotel, 2, 4, 6 and 8 West Princes Street, Rothesay, Bute, from NE

Description General view of Bute House Hotel, 2, 4, 6 and 8 West Princes Street, Rothesay, Bute, from NE

Date 6/3/2012

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number DP 135291

Category On-line Digital Images

Scope and Content Rothesay grew up around the 13th-century circular Castle, becoming a royal burgh in 1400/1. The town expanded north along the High Street until two major phases of land reclamation in the 18th and 19th century. This shifted the main axis of the town along the shoreline, with the creation of Montague Street (mid- to late 18th century) and Victoria Street (1839-40). Subsequent development of the town took place along the shoreline, particularly as the town’s popularity as a tourist destination grew during the 19th century. The town centre has developed in a fairly ad hoc manner, as with so many historic towns. This has continued into the 21st century with redevelopment of historic buildings such as the Court House and other smaller infill. Occupying a corner block on Watergate, West Princes Street and Store Lane, Bute House Hotel dates from the mid-19th century. The hotel occupies the upper three floors of the four-storeyed block, while the ground floor contains three shops within traditional Victorian timber-fronted shop fronts. These are black-painted with gold detailing to the pilastered arcarded windows. The recessed entrances to the shops and the hotel have mosaic tiled floors. The upper floors are painted white, with architraved and corniced single windows. The top floor windows have triangular pediments above, and the corner windows are topped by three ball finials. A large curved foliate cast-iron lamp bracket remains above the hotel entrance. Several large hotels appeared in Rothesay during the 19th century, many located in prime positions along the seafront. Within Guildford Square itself there were originally four hotels: Guildford Court (early 19th century); Bute Hotel (demolished 1990s); Bute House Hotel and Esplanade Hotel (mid-19th century). At the other end of the block from Guildford Court Hotel is the Royal Hotel, and Victoria Hotel lies further along Victoria Street to the west. Most of these hotels are still operating.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/1297484

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap