History:

• In 1849, Henry Goddard, a Lincoln architect, designed the 'Railway Hotel', to cater for the needs of overnight travellers at an important railway junction.
• In 1852, Mr F W Costar built the hotel. The contractor was Kirk & Parry and it cost £2,500.
• In 1859, the hotel was extended to the south and east at a cost of over £4,000.
• By 1866 each floor had 2 toilets but there was still only 1 bathroom.
• In 1922 the hotel began to dispose of its horse-drawn fleet in favour of motor transport. The old stables and bottling stores were converted into garages.
• In 1926 the hotel bakery took over from the London Liverpool Street Hotel for the supply of restaurant cars on the GN (Great Northern) main line railway.
• In 1929 part of the adjoining passenger locomotive shed was adapted for lock-up garages for guest's vehicles.
• In 1932 additional bathrooms and toilets were provided. The 1st floor had 4 bathrooms and 4 toilets, but for some time afterwards residents on the top floor had to make do with 1 bathroom and 2 toilets.
• In 1949, November, the hotel reopened following a major but not total rehabilitation, which eventually cost around £40,000.
• In 1949 ladies conveniences were provided.
• In 1954, the bakery closed after remaining operational throughout the war. The hotel then relied on local commercial bakeries.
• In 1970, a new east wing opened containing 20 studio bedrooms, with private bathrooms and a ground floor car park.
• By 1975 the ground floor car park under the 1970 wing was enclosed as a new banqueting / conference room, which could accommodate 150/200 people was opened.
• In 1975 the hotel bar was refurbished as the 'Poachers bar', which could seat 50.It was themed to appeal to fishermen attracted to the regions high-class fishing opportunities for which the hotel offered attractive weekend packages.
• In 1980 local real ales were introduced and a theatre licence obtained which enabled pub-theatre events to be held. The dining room was also upgraded as the Milton Room Restaurant, which employed a well-known London chef and could seat 50.
• In April 1982 following the opening of the adjacent Queensgate Shopping Centre, part of the banqueting room was converted into Costers Coffee bar aimed at the new shoppers.
• In March 1983 the hotel was sold to Eclipscare, part of the Virans Hotel Group for a reported £395,000. In the mid-1980s Crown Hotels purchased it. Crown hotels continued the process of upgrading bedroom facilities and adding en-suite facilities, although at some point sold the property on to Principal Hotels.
• In 1999 there were extensive restoration and expansion projects which ensured that the spacious and light rooms were preserved. Banqueting and conference facilities were made available.
• In 1993 the hotel came under private ownership for the 1st time in its history, by Peter Boizot MBE DL (founder of the Pizza Express Group). He commenced sympathetic restoration along with numerous improvements - this included the Silver Link restaurant with a magnificent painting of Gresley's A4 No. 60014 'Silver Link' and the old Soke Bar.
• In 2000 to 2001, over £1m was spent on further improvements to the bedrooms.
• In April 2002, April, it was the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Great Northern Hotel.

Architecture:

The 'Railway Hotel' is one of the very few original structures in the City of Peterborough, which dates from the early days of the railways, and still contains many original features.

The original 2 storey 19th century building was 'T' Shaped, with the horizontal bar representing the frontage and main entrance along Station Road.

On the ground floor were 2 sitting rooms, a commercial room, bar and parlour, smoke room, kitchen, scullery and pantries. To the right of the main entrance was a large coffee room which then backed onto the Pleasure Gardens and grounds.

To the north were extensive stables and out buildings, most of which still survive although adapted for a variety of modern uses. There was extensive provision for horses included stables, loose boxes and a harness room, as the hotel operated its own horse taxi service and had its own horse-drawn carriages and coach house.

East of the hotel and running parallel to Leonard Street were the hotel's farm, vegetable gardens, gardeners hut, pig yard, pig sty and laundry rooms.

A further 20 years on and the hotel changed. The kitchens, scullery, larder and servant's hall moved to the northern part of the hotel and a fully equipped bakery, 2 flour bakery stores replaced the old laundry and a slaughterhouse were added.

During the 1920's and 1930's various improvements were made, particularly to the 1st and 2nd floors. The original hotel had very few bathrooms or even indoor toilets. Normally a tin bath would be kept under each bed and on request a maid would carry up hot water.

Female staff had rooms on the 1st floor above the kitchen, while male staff lived over the stables. The ground floor was regarded very much as a gentleman's club. There were around 13 bedrooms in total.

During the Second World War, in the corner of the hotel yard by the north wall of the hotel frontage was a concrete hut, which served as a railway travel office. Military Police supervised travel for forces personnel and if necessary kept order.

Today, The Great Northern Hotel has 33 rooms, all of which have en-suite bathrooms, full central heating, direct dial telephones, satellite televisions and tea and coffee making facilities. The Executive and deluxe rooms also provide a trouser press, hair dryer, and room safes.

Social History :

• The railways created the Victorian grand hotel concept and had a fundamental influence on the modern hotel industry.
• The Victorian railway hotels were often pioneers in new technology; they used the best architects of the day, set standards of comfort not previously experienced outside stately homes, and were responsible for innovations in the technique of organisation and management necessary for the operation of a large and diverse business.
• The main purpose of the hotel was to cater for the needs of overnight travellers at an important railway junction, and in particular for commercial travellers.
• GNR policy was to put to tender the management in all its hotels, staff being employed by the manager and not the Company.
• By 1860, there were frequent disputes over the extension of the lease and the terms of the rental so the GNR gradually took over the direct management.
• At Peterborough the manager as well as his hotel duties, was also responsible for a large number of station refreshment rooms and the hotel acted as the central store.
• From 1879 the GNR pioneered on-train catering. Although the management and staffing were separate from the hotel the latter still provided central stores. The GNR hotel at Peterborough was also responsible for the station posting and omnibus service (the horse station posting and omnibus service (the horse taxis) for which it had exclusive rights.
• In 1913 the farm closed in anticipation of a major reconstruction of the original 'North' station which would have entailed the hotel being 'turned round' with a new approach from the east side with two goods line tracks being positioned immediately outside the original frontage. However the First World War fortunately saw the abandonment of these proposals.
• Despite the provision of a small boiler house in the courtyard adjoining the hotel kitchen in 1934, the hot water supply was severely limited with only radiators in the bathrooms. Coal fires remained in the bedrooms and in the main ground floor rooms.
• Soon after the start of the Second World War the hotel closed to the public and was used by the LNER (London Northern Eastern Region) Civil Engineer's staff evacuated from its King's Cross offices. This also included the parliamentary section which was to remain evacuated at the hotel until November 1945. It is believed that during the war the 2 main bedroom wings were strictly 'off limits'; these facilities may have been reserved for VIPs forced to stay overnight at the city's major railway junction, perhaps to avoid arrival in London during the blitz.
• From 1948 under the Hotels Executive, and subsequently the British Transport Hotels and Catering Services, minor improvements both to the hotel and the station refreshment rooms continued to be made although still under financial restraint.
• In the 1950's there was a move towards business conference facilities, the provision of en-suite facilities in rooms aimed at senior executives, and the convenient location next to the East Coast Main Line.
• In the early 1960s the hotel lost its central stores role; the direct link with station refreshment rooms appears to have ceased years earlier. As the hotel was among the smallest of all BTH (British Transport Hotels) it was several times considered for disposal. Faster and more frequent trains ran through the city and reduced the need for travellers to use the hotel's facilities and more now travelled by road.
• The hotel was probably saved by the advent of Greater Peterborough as a new town.
• The rapid growth of the new town not only brought more people into Peterborough but also new hotels often built outside the old city centre which were cheaper to run. To face this increasing competition the Great Northern was forced to reconsider its position and to re-launch itself into new markets.
• Mr G N Cameron, to whom the author extends his gratitude, drew the very fine plans.
• The hotel is of some historic importance as it is the last surviving building still in its original use.