The Tontine Buildings is a former hotel in

Stourport-on-Severn Stourport-on-Severn, often shortened to Stourport, is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District of North Worcestershire, England, a few miles to the south of Kidderminster and downstream on the River Severn from Bewdley. At the 2011 ce ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

, built in the late 18th century by the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Company. It is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

The

Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal is a navigable narrow canal in Staffordshire and Worcestershire in the English Midlands. It is long, linking the River Severn at Stourport in Worcestershire with the Trent and Mersey Canal at Haywoo ...

, built by

James Brindley James Brindley (1716 – 27 September 1772) was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century. Early life Born i ...

, was completed in 1768, with a terminus at Stourport, on the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

; it provided a route for trade between the Midlands and the Severn. The inn was constructed about 1772 by the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Company. perhaps by

Thomas Dadford Thomas Dadford Sr. (died 1809) was an English canal engineer as were his sons, Thomas Dadford Jr., John Dadford, and James Dadford. Biography Thomas Dadford probably originated from Stewponey or Stourton, Staffordshire, near Stourbridge. He st ...

, engineer of the company; it was part of the development of the location as a canal town. An early name was the Areley Inn; it was later the Tontine Hotel. It provided accommodation for businessman, travellers and workers, and is comparable to the later railway hotels built during the development of railways. There was space for 100 beds, and stabling for horses. There was a boardroom for the directors, committee and shareholders of the company to discuss business."The Tontine"
''Unlocking Stourport's Past''. Retrieved 29 November 2022. The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Company's fortunes declined after the

Worcester and Birmingham Canal The Worcester and Birmingham Canal is a canal linking Birmingham and Worcester in England. It starts in Worcester, as an 'offshoot' of the River Severn (just after the river lock) and ends in Gas Street Basin in Birmingham. It is long. There ar ...

opened in 1816 and the

Birmingham and Gloucester Railway The Birmingham and Gloucester Railway (B&GR) was the first name of the railway linking the cities in its name and of the company which pioneered and developed it; the line opened in stages in 1840, using a terminus at Camp Hill in Birmingham. It ...

opened in 1840. In the 1970s part of the building was a pub, and most of it was disused; plans were submitted by

Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries Marston's plc is a British pub and hotel operator. Founded by John Marston in 1834, it is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Marston's disposed of its brewing operations in 2020, selling the assets to a newly formed joint venture with the Ca ...

to demolish the building for redevelopment. At a public inquiry, the case against demolition was given weight by a letter from Sir

John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture, ...

outlining his objections. The pub closed in 2001 after the building was sold by Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries to a developer. It was later bought by British Waterways.

Description

The importance of the building is described in the listing text: "Commercial buildings of pre 1840 date are uncommon: this is an exceptionally rare building, being a very early purpose built lodgings house with a strong canal connection." The original layout of the building has survived. The front of the building, on the south-west, of seven bays with

casement window A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges at the side. They are used singly or in pairs within a common frame, in which case they are hinged on the outside. Casement windows are often held open using a cas ...

s and a central doorway, retains the original appearance, with the central brick porch added about 1870. Inside, original features include black and red quarry tiles on the ground floor, panelled doors, skirting boards and fireplaces. On the upper floor, the company boardroom, that was also used as a ballroom, survives. Nearby is the former stabling for the Tontine Hotel, a Grade II listed building.

References

{{reflist Stourport-on-Severn Grade II* listed buildings in Worcestershire