The Talbot is a former pub and hotel in

Wrexham city centre Wrexham city centre is the administrative, cultural and historic city centre of Wrexham, in North Wales and is the area enclosed by the inner ring road of the city. It is the largest shopping area in north and mid Wales, and the administrative c ...

, North Wales. It was built and opened by 1905 replacing an older inn also known as ''The Talbot'' or the Talbot Inn. The current building consists of a polygonal

Tudor Revival Tudor Revival architecture, also known as mock Tudor in the UK, first manifested in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture, in rea ...

façade structure and is situated in between

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

's Hope Street and Queen Street, with the building also extending further across Queen Street. A hotel styled as the Talbot Hotel also operated on the first floor of the building. It stopped operating as a pub and hotel in 1966, later being converted into retail space (now

Boots Opticians Boots Opticians Limited operates a chain of ophthalmic and dispensing optician stores in the United Kingdom. The company is a subsidiary of Walgreens Boots Alliance (58%) and De Rigo (42%). History The company began trading in the British opti ...

), although part of the building briefly served as a bar known as ''The Talbot'' in 2008.

Description

It is a three-storeyed polygonal corner building with outer

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

s facing and situated between Hope Street and Queen Street, with it extending as a lower two-storeyed four-gabled range along Queen Street. It has half-timbered walling with a polygonal red plain tiled roof and has a

façade, and is one of the few built and later remaining Tudor-faced buildings in Wrexham with other similar-designed buildings later demolished. It is a

grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

listed building. The building was designed by John H. Davies and Son of Chester, although M. J. Gummow who designed the Poyser Street drill hall, is also accredited with designing plans for the building. The end wall stacks are made with enriched brickwork, using a standard type designed by Douglas and Fordham for production by Ruabon-based J. C. Edwards. The building is said to be one of the most photographed buildings of Wrexham, and is used to promote Wrexham such as by local politicians, as a local landmark.

History

In March 1888, the older inn was acquired by F. W. Soames & Co for £4250 () and the old pub was demolished. The older pub was also known as "The Talbot" or the "Talbot Inn" in older photographs. By August 1904, an agreement was signed between Rev. John Ollerhead and J. W. Soames on a larger rebuilding of the hotel. The building was rebuilt in 1904–05, into a larger building than the original and became a hotel on the first and second floor with an extra shop on the ground floor. Mr Soames of Soames Brewery (later Border Breweries) held some yearly events for his employees in the building. The Talbot Inn Hotel stayed open until 1966 and is now retail space, recently being occupied by

. Although the name ''The Talbot'' was retained by a bar located in the building's basement, which briefly openly operated as a bar and music venue between 2008 and 2009.

References

{{Wrexham, state=collapsed Grade II listed buildings in Wrexham County Borough Grade II listed hotels Grade II listed pubs in Wales Hotels established in the 20th century Defunct hotels in Wales Pubs in Wrexham 20th-century establishments in Wales Tourist attractions in Wrexham County Borough Hotels in Wrexham County Borough