The South Beach Hotel and area railings

Cadw's description

Location

Facing the sea on the W corner of the junction of The Esplanade and Victoria Street.

History

Pair of houses, later hotel, later C19, probably c1875 but dated on a rainwater head 1898. Most of the South Cliff area of Tenby was laid out for building in 1864 by J H Shipway, engineer, on former Tuder estate land; builder Wm Davies, who built much of Victoria Street. The architect may have been F Wehnert, who did similar schemes for Milford Haven and Llandudno. The Esplanade was the principal seafront terrace, built up in the 1870s. The plots outside the original estate were developed more piecemeal, and this pair and the row of three on the other side of Victoria Street, now Belgrave Hotel probably date from the same period as Victoria Street, built from 1872, houses being advertised in 1874. The design of these matches the Belgrave Hotel but is slightly different to the other houses along The Esplanade. The houses were called Nos 1 and 2 Somerset Buildings. In 2001 hotel closed and in conversion to flats.

Exterior

Pair of houses, now hotel, painted stucco with slate roofs behind parapet and rendered stacks. Basement, four storeys and attic, mirrored pair each house having a full-height canted bay to outside and single window range to inner bay. Detail matches the three houses across Victoria St to right. Windows are square-headed sashes in moulded surrounds, mostly 4-pane, but 2-pane to narrower side lights of canted bays. Numerous windows replaced in plastic since 1977. A moulded cornice over ground floor and moulded string between second and third floors. Parapet has sunk panels with inset moulding with rebated angles. 4 C20 dormers. Basement sash windows replaced in plastic. Since 1977 the pair of doors under a single entablature (presumably similar to the door on the Belgrave Hotel) has been replaced by a broad segmental-arched opening within a late C20 flat roofed stuccoed porch.
Slate-hung windowless W end wall with single-storey range alongside with C20 windows in SW corner. Rear is L-plan and has mostly C20 windows.
Victoria Street side of unpainted stucco, has one-window range to gable end right and 2-window wing to right with parapet. Four-pane sashes to upper 2 floors, 2 canted oriels and one 4-pane sash to first floor, 2 tripartite sashes and 2-panel door with overlight in pilastered surround to ground floor. C20 basement windows.
Fleur-de-lys area railings.

Interior

Interior altered in hotel use with the two hallways linked. Two staircases, that to the left with the typical fat bulbous newel found elsewhere on The Esplanade, that to right with bottom of lowest flight altered. Plain moulded cornices to ground floor rooms.

Reason for designation

Included as a pair of substantial Victorian seafront houses, completing the terraced group on The Esplanade.