Rear of Bank Buildings 16 Esplanade Weymouth

Image: © Jo and Steve Turner Taken: 22 Aug 2021

Grade II Listed former hotel of about 1850 that underwent considerable modification, especially to the ground floor, in about 1900. The building currently carries the name of 'Edward Court' in the fanlight over the main front door having previously been the Edward Hotel. A list of John Groves & Sons pubs has, 'Marine Hotel, later [by 1911] Edward Hotel'. Writing in about 1881, in a letter, Lillie Langtry said 'We got in at two and went to the Marine Hotel which turned out to be a pot house of the lowest description in which people shared beds between six and the proprietor was quite drunk and would not show us our rooms...' The Post Office directories of 1859 and 1875 list no bank or hotel on the Esplanade (this section formerly listed as Bellvue) but list 'private hotel, Bank house'. In other 1851, 1852 and 1855 directories the same occupant George Voss is listed as boarding-house keeper at 'Bank Buildings'. I suspect the name is misleading and it never was a bank, particularly as typically a bank would have its name cast into the stone/brickwork. The Marine Hotel probably changed its name with the circa 1900 refurbishment. A 1938 hotel advertisement for a cook requires a reply to a George Kenneth. During WW2 the hotel was requisitioned by the Navy probably for crews of Motor Gun Boats. A local resident talking about the 1950s tells us that 'the hotel was owned by a Mr Hanky, a former London landlord, and that it was a renowned late-night watering hole for the town’s councillors as well as for some rather shady characters'. I can't find when it was converted to flats but the resident association was incorporated in November 1983. From other directories, proprietors are, 1889 Harriet Bowles Marine Hotel, 1895 E N Clapp Marine Hotel, 1911-1915 Albert Whaley Edward Hotel.

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0