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29 North Parade - Grand Hotel
  
     
 

The Grand Hotel, bounded by Field Stile Road, North Parade, Hotson Road and Marlborough Road (then called Corporation Road), was built in 1901 for a cost of £30,000 as part of the great northward expansion of the town masterminded by the Coast Development Company. The project also included the company's Belle Steamer services, the pier at which the Belle paddle steamers from London berthed and Pier Avenue to bring tourists arriving by rail directly to this new holiday nexus without necessarily entering the town itself. The hotel, which had some 100 rooms, was designed by architect C H M Mileham and furnished in some luxury by fashionable London suppliers, James Shoolbred & Co.It had a lift to all floors, electric lights and central heating. Its extensive grounds included tennis courts, exotic gardens and a vegetable garden.

1908
Miss K Dickerson - Manageress (K1908)
 

1911
Miss Dickerson - Manageress (C1911)
 



 

1933
Margaret Holmes Archer - Manageress (Source: Bury Free Press, 3 June 1933)

The hotel is requisitioned for troops' accommodation during the War and, afterwards falls into disrepair
 

1959
The hotel is demolished and bungalows built on the site.

 

 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
   

Do you have any memories or records about this address? Can you correct any of our information or fill in any of our blanks? If so, please email Barry Tolfree
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SOURCES:
BSD - Bernard Segrave-Daly
BCS = Bygones & Characters of Southwold by Barrett Jenkins
C = Census
CP = Cinema Programme 1958
CSP = Coronation Souvenir Programme 1953
G = Gales Trade Directory
GRO = General Register Office
K = Kelly's Directory
LM = Local memory
M = James Maggs' Southwold Diary 1818-1876
MCG = Methodist Church Guide 1930
NA = National Archives
PP = Pantomime Programme 1933
PLR = Petrol Licence Records
POD = Post Office Directory
PPP = Pier Pavilion Programme 1924, 1926
RCE = Rotary Club Exhibition 1969
SCM = Southwold Catholic Magazine 1923
SCTG = Southwold Corporation Tourist Guide
SER = Southwold Electoral Register
SFP = Southwold Scouts Fete Programme 1947
SG = Southwold Guide
SGCH = Southwold Golf Club Handbook
SLHR = Southwold Local History Recorder 1980s 1990s (Mrs R. McDermot)
SMHS = Southwold Museum & Historical Society
SN = Southwold & Neighbourhood 1903
SPM = Southwold Parish Magazine 1895 -1954
SR = Southwold Recorder 1927, 1932, 1934, 1935
SRB = Southwold Rate Book
SRT = Southwold Railway Timetable 1915
SSAS = Southwold Sea Angling Society Handbook 1909
SST = Southwold Summer Theatre Programmes
SSW = Southwold Shopping Week Programme, June/July 1922
STG = Southwold Town Guide 1930
SVL = Southwold Visitors List 1907, 1930
SVCP = Southwold Victory Celebration Programme 1946
SWCG = Southwold Wesleyan Church Guide
TTR = 'The Town Revisited' - Portraits of Southwold by Stephen Wolfenden 2000
TTT = ''To The Town' - Portraits of Southwold by Stephen Wolfenden 1988
W = White’s History, Gazetteer and Directory of Suffolk 1874
 
Note on dates
Unless otherwise stated, dates given do not indicate the years in which the business started or finished but those for which there is firm evidence that it was trading at this address. Sources in brackets; key at bottom of page.


Site of the Grand Hotel, now demolished and replaced by bungalows and modern homes.

Front view

Rear view looking east from the tennis courts



The main lounge

The 'Vitaglass' Sun Lounge
Reproduced from postcards in the late Robert Palmer's collection, by kind permission of Margaret Palmer.

Click the pictures to enlarge

A sample of the Grand Hotel's heavy linen napery. Tablecloth in the possession of Peter Parke, reproduced with oermission

The tariff for servants and dogs.
Reproduced from an exhibit in Southwold Museum.

Click image to enlarge

The Grand Hotel on the right of the picture, seen from the pier. 1903.
Southwold Museum P1373
Click the picture to enlarge

Two postcard images of the Grand Hotel from the beach. The bottom picture shows goat carts 'waiting for orders'.
From the Robert Palmer postcard collection, reproduced by kind permission of Margaret Palmer

Another early 20th century photo of the Grand Hotel.
Southwold Museum P3105

Click any of the above three pictures for enlarged views.

Advertisement in the 1936 Southwold Visitors List.
Courtesy of Margaret Turnbull