Midland Hotel (Morecambe)

The Midland Hotel is a famous Art Deco building in Morecambe, in Lancashire, England. It was built by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS), in 1933, to the designs of architect Oliver Hill, with sculpture by Eric Gill.Carter, Oliver (1990). "An illustrated history of British Railway Hotels: 1838-1983". St Michael's: Silver Link Publishing. ISBN 0-947971-36-X] Simmons, Jack and Biddle, Gordon (1997). "The Oxford Companion to British Railway History: From 1603 to the 1990s". Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-211697-5.] It is a Grade II* listed building. The hotel has been completely restored by Urban Splash, Northwest Regional Development Agency and Lancaster City Council. The hotel opened its doors to the public once again on Sunday 1st June 2008.

It was built to replace two earlier hotels: one that was built in 1848 by the North Western Railway and renamed the "Midland Hotel" in 1871 when the Midland Railway took over the North Western Railway; and a supplementary hotel at Heysham, called the "Heysham Towers", which was converted from a private house in 1896. The Heysham Towers was intended to serve railway steamer traffic from Heysham Harbour to Belfast; but it was not a success and was sold in 1919.

In 1932, the LMS bought land from Morecambe Corporation to build the new 40-bedroom Midland Hotel to replace the old Midland Hotel. It opened in July 1933.

The design

The building owes a lot to the Streamline Moderne branch of Art Deco. Oliver Hill designed a three storey curving building with features such as a central circular tower containing the entrance and a spiral staircase, and a circular cafe at the north end.

The hotel stands on the seafront with the convex side facing the sea, while the concave side faces the railway station - an homage to the railway company whose showcase hotel this was.

War time use and disposal

The Midland Hotel and Morecambe itself began to lose popularity and in September 1939 the hotel was requisitioned by the Royal Navy. The navy used it until September 1947; paying £1,900 rent per year.

Upon Nationalisation of the railways, ownership transferred on 1 January 1948 to the British Transport Commission (BTC), coming under the control of the BTC's Railway Executive; however on the 1 July 1948, along with the other railway hotels, ownership was transferred to the BTC's Hotels Executive.Skelsey, Geoffrey (2006). "Famous Hotel-Keepers for over a century: British Railway Hotels under State Ownership, 1948-84". In: "Back Track", Volume 20, No. 7 (July 2006). Pp 390 - 399. ISSN 0955-538071.] It was sold by the Hotels Executive in 1952.

Other history

It was used in filming episodes of the TV series Poirot, starring David Suchet, in 1989, most notably in the episode 'Double Sin'. [ [http://www.midlandhotelmorecambe.co.uk/press/The-Visitor-Mar-07_3.jpgArticle in The Visitor] ]

See also

* British Transport Hotels

External links

* [http://www.midlandhotelmorecambe.co.uk/ Official site]
* [http://www.midlandhotel.org/index.html Friends of the Midland Hotel site]
* [http://www.urbansplash.co.uk Urban Splash]

References