Detail of entrance of former Royal Hotel, 1-6 Albert Place, Rothesay, Bute

Description Detail of entrance of former Royal Hotel, 1-6 Albert Place, Rothesay, Bute

Date 6/3/2012

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

Catalogue Number DP 135296

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 almost half of the block of Albert Street, East and West Princes Streets, the Royal Hotel dates from the mid-19th century. The hotel occupies the upper three floors of the four-storeyed block, while the ground floor has a large commercial premises on East and West Princes Street and a public house on Albert Place adjacent to the entrance to the hotel. The hotel entrance, seen here, comprises a pilastered doorway with marbled columns. The cream-painted upper floors have architraved and corniced single and bipartite windows throughout, those on the top floor being arched. The splayed corner is surmounted by a decorative anthemion detail and the chimneystacks have decorative fluted stonework. 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). Victoria Hotel lies further along Victoria Street to the west. Most of these hotels are still operating.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/1297492

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap