Norbreck Castle Hotel and Tramstop

Image: © Gerald England Taken: 8 Apr 2013

Norbreck Castle Hotel on Queens Promenade has 480 bedrooms and 22 conference suites. It was built as a large private country house in 1869, and purchased around the end of the 19th century by J.H. Shorrocks who used the house to entertain friends and colleagues at lavish weekend parties. The popularity of these parties led to Shorrocks running them on a commercial basis by taking paying guests. In 1912, Shorrocks formed a public company and expanded the building, now named the Norbreck Hydro, in several phases, adding a ballroom, swimming pool and solarium in the early 1930s. During World War II the hotel was commandeered by the British government as offices and accommodation for evacuated civil servants and remained under government control for eleven years until being handed back in 1951. In 1988, the hotel was the venue for the conference where the Liberal Party and Social Democratic Party merged to form the Liberal Democrats. It is currently owned by Britannia Hotels.

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