1899 – Hop Market Hotel, Worcester

“The rebuilding of the Hop Market Hotel is consequent upon the proposed widenine of Foregate- street by the corporation of Worcester, the width of this main thoroughfare being at the present time very limited, and with tram and vehicular traffic is frequently congested. The Hop Market and warehouses at the rear are governed by a board of guardians, consisting of 34 members and 11 representatives of the corporation. The first board appears to have been formed about the year 1703, when a governor, deputy governor, clerk, &c., were appointed, the profits . accruing from the Hop Market being divided amongst certain parishes in the city. The premises now occupied as a hop market were first erected as a general workhouse for the poor, and in the year I711 the market, then held in the Corn Market, was removed to the said workhouse, portion of the same being utilised for the purpose of a warehouse. The hotel was subsequently erected early in the present century on the site of such warehouse. The design and plans illustrated were those selected by the board of guardians in a competition limited to local architects, and were prepared by Messrs. H. Rowe and Son. A wing to the large area of the site required as a courtyard for the transaction of business, the space left for hotel accommodation is limited, and is little more than one room deep, and it has been found necessary to utilise the basement for administrative purposes, billiard-room, stores, &c. The bar, coffee, and commercial rooms have been arranged as conveniently as circumstances would permit. There will be a limited number of private sitting-rooms and about 36 bedrooms.”
The Building News, February 10 1899