all about the church street townhouse

The Church Street Townhouse is a small, town centre boutique hotel with an all-day bar and brasserie and 12 luxury ensuite bedrooms.

owners sue hawkins and rachelThe hotel is independently owned by Sue Hawkins and her niece Rachel – both Stratford girls with a reputation for opening busy and buzzy pubs, bars and hotels in the area.

The building itself is considered to be of great architectural interest and is located in what is known as the “historic core” of the town. 16 Church Street is made up of two distinct architectural styles – the rear rooms on all 3 floors date back to 1600 and have lower ceilings and plenty of beams. There is a 18th century bread oven in the Library Bar and bedroom 3 is particularly heavily beamed.

The rooms on the 3 floors to the front of the building were a more recent addition – built in 1768 with the telltale high ceilings and sash windows of that period. The ceiling light in the Red Dining Room is 200 years old and you will notice plenty of coving, some lovely pillars and three beautiful architraves in the hallway. The wonderful oak staircase was also built during this extension, along with the roof lantern at the top of the stairwell.

In 1840 the façade of the building underwent a face lift–the top of the building was castellated and the ogee windows were created, all in the gothic style that was the fashion of the day.

A hotel is only the latest use for this wonderful and historic building. When Sue and Rachel bought the site just before Christmas 2009, it existed as a dental practice on the ground floor (hence the “crown” in the logo!) and an accountancy firm had been operating on the top two floors for many years.

Originally built for a burgess called John Sadler, the building has, over the years, been home to a family of wealthy lawyers, the Town Clerk and also the Clerk for Peace for Warwickshire. After a huge programme of refurbishment in early 2010, Sue and Rachel opened the doors to The Church Street Townhouse on July 26th 2010.

To find out more about the building, Church Street, Shakespeare and Stratford upon Avon, visit the Shakespeare Centre Library and Archive – either in the flesh (it’s housed within Shakespeare’s Birthplace, 5 minutes’ walk from the hotel), or virtually at www.shakespeare.org.uk/content/view/19/19

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