Great Western Hotel, London
Encyclopedia
Paddington station
Paddington railway station, also known as London Paddington, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex.The site is a historic one, having served as the London terminus of the Great Western Railway and its successors since 1838. Much of the current mainline station dates...
complex in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The hotel was built on Praed Street
Praed Street
Praed Street is a street in London's Paddington district , most notable for the fact that Paddington Station is situated on it. It runs straight in a west-south-westerly direction from Edgware Road to Craven Road, Spring Street and Eastbourne Terrace.-History:Praed Street was originally laid out in...
in 1851–54 to a design by architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Philip Charles Hardwick
Philip Charles Hardwick
-Life:Philip Charles Hardwick was a notable English architect of the 19th century who was once described as "a careful and industrious student of mediaeval art"...
, and effectively forms the main facade of the station, closing off the end of the trainshed at the head of the terminal platforms. It was built by Cubitts, the building firm founded by Thomas Cubitt
Thomas Cubitt
Thomas Cubitt , born Buxton, Norfolk, was the leading master builder in London in the second quarter of the 19th century, and also carried out several projects in other parts of England.-Background:...
.
At Paddington, Hardwick pioneered the Second Empire style for buildings of this type in England. In its original form, the hotel was extensively ornamented inside and outside, and there is a surviving allegorical sculpture
Allegorical sculpture
Allegorical sculpture refers to sculptures that symbolize and particularly personify abstract ideas as in allegory.Common in the western world, for example, are statues of 'Justice', a female figure traditionally holding scales in one hand, as a symbol of her weighing issues and arguments, and a...
in the pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
by John Thomas
John Thomas (sculptor)
John Thomas was a British sculptor and architect, who worked on Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Westminster.John Thomas was born in Chalford, Gloucestershire....
.
The Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
originally leased the hotel to a subsidiary, the Great Western Royal Hotel Company, which was chaired by their engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS , was a British civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards including the construction of the first major British railway, the Great Western Railway; a series of steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship; and numerous important bridges...
from 1855 until his death in 1859. The railway company took full control of its operation in the later nineteenth century, and in the 1930s extended and remodelled it within and without under the direction of their architect P. A. Culverhouse.
In accordance with Government policies on privatization
Privatization
Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...
of British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
, it was sold to the private sector in 1983. It was refurbished and reopened under its present name, as part of the Hilton Hotels
Hilton Hotels
Hilton Hotels & Resorts is an international chain of full-service hotels and resorts founded by Conrad Hilton and now owned by Hilton Worldwide. Hilton hotels are either owned by, managed by, or franchised to independent operators by Hilton Worldwide. Hilton Hotels became the first coast-to-coast...
chain, in 2001.
See also
- Paddington WatersidePaddington WatersideThe Paddington Waterside Partnership is the body coordinating regeneration of the Paddington Special Policy Area around Paddington Station in London...
- the hotel is part of a wider redevelopment of the Paddington area - Hilton London MetropoleHilton London MetropoleThe Hilton London Metropole is a 4-star hotel and conference centre located on the Edgware Road in central London, England] It is bounded by the Marylebone Flyover of the Westway to the north, Praed Street to the south, and the Paddington Basin development to the west.-History:The tower is one of...
- modern convention hotel at the east end of Praed Street