Duke of Cornwall Hotel

File:Duke of cornwall hotel historic exterior 1922.jpg

The first steam train arrived at the now-closed Plymouth Millbay railway station on 2 April 1849. The increase of first class travel to the area led to an increasing demand for luxury accommodation and once the need for a quality hotel was recognised, a group of railway directors were appointed as the hotel's board of directors. They selected the architect C. Forster Hayward,{{cite book| title = The Buildings of England: Devon | year = 1989 | author = Pevsner, Nikolaus | author-link = Nikolaus Pevsner | orig-year = First published 1952 | editor = Cherry, Bridget | publisher = Penguin Books | location = Harmondsworth | page = 665 | isbn = 0-14-071050-7}}{{cite web |title=1863 – Duke of Cornwall Hotel, Plymouth, Devon |date=24 June 2010 |publisher=archiseek |url=http://archiseek.com/2010/1863-duke-of-cornwall-hotel-plymouth-devon/ |access-date=5 February 2011}}

who later designed the Swyddfa'r Sir in Aberystwyth to the same style but on a smaller scale.{{cite web |title=Swyddfa'r Sir |publisher=Coeflein |url=http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/23274/details/SWYDDFA%27R+SIR%3BCOUNTY+HALL%3BFORMER+POLICE+STATION%3BQUEEN%27S+HOTEL,+ALBERT+PLACE,+ABERYSTWYTH/ |access-date=18 December 2016}} The builder was "Honest" John Pethick of Messers Hall and Pethick,{{cite web |title=The history behind Plymouth's most unique hotel |url=http://www.thedukeofcornwall.co.uk/content/content.numo?ida=2&idas=16 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141208053917/http://www.thedukeofcornwall.co.uk/content/content.numo?ida=2&idas=16 |access-date=2014-12-10 |archive-date=8 December 2014}} who had already completed several jobs for the South Devon Railway Company including the rebuilding of Exeter St Thomas and Newton Abbot railway stations, and a hotel in Old Town Street in Plymouth.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}

Construction started in 1863 and the hotel opened in 1865. Five different types of stone were used to create the building in Victorian Gothic style. Owned by the Plymouth Hotel Company, the Duke of Cornwall cost £40,000 to develop including the excavation work required to clear the site where the Saracens Head Public House and Millbay Grove Terrace once stood.[http://www.thedukeofcornwall.co.uk/index.numo?idS1=&idC=6 Duke of Cornwall Hotel website] {{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}

Twenty stewardesses returning from the United States after surviving the sinking of the RMS Titanic spent their first night ashore back in England at the hotel. This event was commemorated in an exhibition at the hotel in 2017.{{Cite web|url=https://thedukeofcornwall.co.uk/events/titanic-exhibition/|title = Titanic Exhibition at the Duke!}}

Long-distance road travel was becoming a viable option in the 1920s and during the same period the number of ocean liner visits to Plymouth had doubled from 350 to 700 a year. Plymouth's location was attractive as it could cut a whole day in getting back to London by train rather than being continuing on the liner to Southampton. With this spare day the people were looking for accommodation and due to this increase in passing trade the hotel went through a thorough program of reconstruction and redecoration. Its lighting was electrified, a lift was installed, and the sanitary arrangements were certified by the local authority.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}

During the 1930s many celebrities came through Plymouth's Millbay Docks including Walt Disney, Charlie Chaplin, Duke Ellington and Bing Crosby. The number of liner visits peaked during the 1930s and the city looked to promote itself as a tourist destination. 1934 saw the memorial at the Mayflower Steps unveiled which promoted the Pilgrim Fathers link with America. The following year the Tinside Lido opened on the Hoe.

On 6 July 1940 the first air raid of the Plymouth BlitzGill, Crispin (1993). Plymouth. A New History. Devon Books. pp. 259–262. {{ISBN|0-86114-882-7}} took place and local people were aware of the city of Plymouth's importance to the enemy. With the large HMNB Devonport Naval base nearby, it was inevitable that this base would soon become a target. Over the next four years there were 59 separate assaults on the city. Thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed during that time making Plymouth one of the most bombed cities in the country.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}

Despite the bombing, the Duke of Cornwall hotel survived relatively unscathed, unlike the St James the Less Church and the Millbay railway station which stood either side of the hotel. Thanks to this dances took place in the ballroom every Wednesday and Saturday nights. They proved to be a welcome break from the pressure and fear that had become part of everyone's lives. American troops and local people alike attended these functions and wedding receptions were also held in the hotel. Guests were entertained by the likes of Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth and other artistes who were staying at the hotel whilst playing at the nearby Palace Theatre on Union Street.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}

According to the intelligence records of the MI5 and home office reports, the Welsh family that ran the hotel during the war had strong ties to the fascist party and was suspected by MI5 of gathering military intelligence from naval personnel. In particular, the manager's daughter-in-law was accused of taking American servicemen to her bedroom where she would coax sensitive military information from them after 'entertaining' them. On 10 February 1944 Mrs Welsh and her daughter-in-law Bebe were placed on the suspects list. In March she and her husband had a restriction order which prohibited their presence in an aliens protected area. They had been watched from at least 1939 but it was not until 1944 that they were forced to leave before the Allied invasion of France in the spring of 1944, MI5 recommended their detention.Gray, Todd (2006). Blackshirts in Devon. The Mint Press. pp. 271–275. {{ISBN|978-1-903356-46-3}}{{cite web |last=Spiers |first=Judi |title=Fascists and Pasties |publisher=Devon Life |url=http://devon.greatbritishlife.co.uk/article/judi-spiers-interviews-dr-todd-gray-famous-exeter-historian-12556/ |access-date=5 February 2011}}{{cite news |title=Shocking history |newspaper=Western Morning News (Plymouth) |url=http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_product=UKNB&p_theme=aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid=1168B7262713A1B0 |date=6 January 2007 |access-date=5 February 2011}} (Subscription required)

The hotel, which had been listed as Grade II in 1975,{{NHLE|num=1386245|desc=Detailed Record|accessdate=5 February 2011}} faced threats of closure in 1977. A local newspaper article read: Plymouth's 114-year-old Duke of Cornwall Hotel which kept the tourism flag flying in Queen Victoria's days and defied the wrath of Hitler's bombs, is in danger of being pulled down.The Herald, Plymouth, 12 September 1977.

This was due to the lack of car parking space: the terraced gardens gave way to a new car park in 1988.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

In 1987 another article reported "Plymouth's last grand Victorian Hotel is up for sale".The Herald, Plymouth, 16 March 1987. The hotel was described by Sir John Betjeman as "one of the finest examples of Victorian gothic architecture he had ever seen", and in 1988 its future was secured.The Herald, Plymouth, 26 February 1988. A refurbishment programme affecting almost every area of the building was completed. The ballroom was completely refurbished in 1994 and the old Spider's Web bar converted to a new function suite – the Fleur de Lys suite.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}

There was a temporary closure in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The hotel's operator, Bespoke Hotels, who were the tenants of the hotel announced on 4 February 2021 that it would close the operations.{{Cite web|url=https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/plymouths-devastation-after-duke-cornwall-4965809|title = Devastation after Duke of Cornwall Hotel shuts its doors for good|date = 4 February 2021}} More than 50 staff were made redundant, and people who had paid deposits on weddings at the hotel were left out of pocket.{{Cite web|url=https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/couples-lose-weddings-shock-duke-4977364|title = Couples' anger at shock wedding venue closure|date = 7 February 2021}} On 28 May 2021 the hotel's owners have immediately appointed RBH Hotels as the new management company{{Cite web |last=Telford |first=William |date=2021-02-19 |title=Historic Plymouth hotel saved as RBH takes over Duke of Cornwall |url=https://www.business-live.co.uk/enterprise/historic-plymouth-hotel-saved-rbh-19875436 |access-date=2023-08-07 |website=Business Live |language=en}} and re-opened, at which time many of the staff who were previously made redundant were re-employed {{Cite web|url=https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/plymouths-duke-cornwall-hotel-officially-5479205|title = Duke of Cornwall Hotel officially reopens after turbulent year|date = June 2021}}

In August 1914 Ernest Shackleton stayed in the hotel the night before his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.{{Cite news |title=Celebrating centenary of Shackleton's epic expedition |publisher=University of Plymouth |url=https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/news/shackleton-100-plymouth-centenary-of-endurance |access-date=2018-09-11}} The hotel has a guest bedroom named "Shackleton Room" to commemorate this connection.

Other names in the visitors book include Tommy Trinder, Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth. In 1954 Laurel and Hardy were due to perform for a week at the Palace Theatre. But they were forced to cancel after the first night on 17 May due to Oliver Hardy suffering from flu and a mild heart attack.{{cite web |title=Laurel and Hardy at the Palace Theatre |date=22 March 2009 |publisher=plymouthlocalhistory |url=http://plymouthlocalhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/laurel-and-hardy.html |access-date=17 December 2014}} Owing to its proximity to the train station opposite, the hotel has attracted visits from various other celebrities including Charlie Chaplin who would take the train from London then sail back to New York City from the docks at Millbay.{{cite web |title=Charlie Chaplin at the Duke of Cornwall |publisher=plymouthherald |url=http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Memories-Millbay-port-s-star-studded-history/story-20232758-detail/story.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217143956/http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Memories-Millbay-port-s-star-studded-history/story-20232758-detail/story.html |access-date=17 December 2014 |archive-date=17 December 2014}}

The Duke of Cornwall had 72 bedrooms and suites, including the Tower Suite, which gave a 360 degree view of the surrounding city, coast and countryside. The hotel was regularly used as a venue for conferences, private functions and weddings{{citation needed|date=November 2018}} and was an approved marriage ceremony venue.{{Cite web |title=Approved ceremony venues |website=www.plymouth.gov.uk |url=https://www.plymouth.gov.uk/birthsmarriagesanddeaths/marriagescivilpartnershipsandcelebratoryceremonies/ceremonyvenues/approvedceremonyvenues |access-date=2018-09-11}}

In 2018 the hotel had a one star (Recommended) rating from Frommer's.[http://www.frommers.com/destinations/plymouth/D48791.html "Duke of Cornwall Hotel"]. Frommer's. Retrieved 20 September 2010 The hotel had three stars and was awarded two rosettes for culinary excellence from the AA.{{cite web |title=Duke of Cornwall Hotel – Plymouth |publisher=The Automobile Association |url=https://www.theaa.com/restaurants/devon/best-western-duke-of-cornwall-hotel-plymouth-pl1-3lg |access-date=5 February 2011}}

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• {{Official website|https://www.thedukeofcornwall.co.uk/}}

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Category:Buildings and structures in Plymouth, Devon

Category:Grade II listed hotels

Category:Hotel buildings completed in 1865

Category:Hotels in Devon