Building record BRM 023 - The Oakmere Hotel

The Oaksmere Hotel is a grade II-listed country house which dates in part from the 16th century but is of national importance for its exceptional Victorian Gothic Revival architecture including work by Thomas Jeckyll. The first part is a mid-late 16th century three-bay timber-framed structure with a roll-moulded ceiling, apparently forming the eastern parlour of a north-facing house that would have extended further west. No obvious trace remains of the rest of the Tudor house. The next phase of the building is an early-mid 17th century timber-framed structure with notched lamb-tongue chamfer stops to the principal joist of its first-floor ceiling. It has been much altered and is largely concelaed but it appears to have formed the rebuilt hall of the 16th century parlour to the east. A new housekeeper's room and dairy was added between 1812 and 1839. A Mock Gothic gable was added to the western wall of the 17th century structure at some time betewen 1850-1884 to match the western gable of 1850 and create a uniform western façade. The new western avenue may be contemporary with this. A red-brick scullery and servants' hall range with Mock Gothic crow-stepped gables built in 1871 but incorporating parts of an earlier extension of between 1839 and 1847 which contained a back kitchen and was itself enlarged in 1850. A formerly open passage between the two 19th century service wings containin g a well was roofed over between 1850 and 1884 with glass. The modern hotel represents a remarkably complete example of Gothic Revival architecture having suffered relatively little internal change since the 1880s, and almost no external alteration; with the exception of the exposed timbers of the 16th century parlour (which were never intended to be visible), the eastern elevation remains almost identical to a drawing of 1850 (S1).