Royal Bath Hotel
The foundation stone for
Bournemouth’s very first hotel was laid in 1837. Built from designs by
Christchurch architect Benjamin Ferrey, it was officially opened by Sir George
Tapps Gervis on 28th June 1838, the very day of Queen Victoria’s
Coronation.
The Bath Hotel, as it was originally
known, was THE place to be if one was staying in the newly developing seaside
settlement of Bournemouth.
In December 1876 an hotelier from
Glasgow, Merton Russell-Cotes, bought the hotel. Two new wings were added,
designed by Christopher Crabb Creeke. It was reopened by the Lord Mayor of
London as the Royal Bath Hotel on 11th August 1880, the same date
that Bournemouth’s second pier was opened.
A new wing was added in 1887, with
further additions in 1913. During the Second World War, between July 1941 and
September 1946, the hotel was requisitioned for use by the Royal Canadian Air Force
as officer’s accommodation. A third of the hotel was engulfed by fire in January
1979, taking over a year for renovation work to be completed.
Peter Kazmierczak, Senior Heritage Librarian, Bournemouth Libraries
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