Clarence Hotel
Drawing and text by kind permission of Jim Bates.

 Originally built in the plain Georgian style, the hotel had a new façade built by W M Robbins in the early 1880’s. This was to compete with the splendid hotels being built on the sea front.

It was finished in stucco with imitation bands of rustication (channels marking out masonry joints) on the ground and first floors. It rises to four storeys with five square-headed windows on each floor, the entrance being off-centre as it is today.