The Midland Hotel, also known as Hallmark Hotel Derby Midland, is a hotel on Midland Road in

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

in the East Midlands of England, adjacent to Derby railway station. It is the oldest extant purpose-built station hotel in the world.

Architecture and history

The hotel was designed by

Francis Thompson Francis Joseph Thompson (16 December 1859 – 13 November 1907) was an English poet and Catholic mystic. At the behest of his father, a doctor, he entered medical school at the age of 18, but at 26 left home to pursue his talent as a writer a ...

for the

North Midland Railway The North Midland Railway was a railway line and Great Britain, British railway company, which opened a line from the city of Derby in Derbyshire to the city of Leeds in Yorkshire in 1840. At Derby, it connected with the Birmingham and Derby J ...

and built by Thomas Jackson of Pimlico. It opened in 1841 as the Midland Hotel and Posting House and is today a grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. On 28 September 1849,

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Alb ...

and the Royal Family stayed overnight in the hotel whilst travelling back from

Balmoral Castle Balmoral Castle () is a large estate house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and a residence of the British royal family. It is near the village of Crathie, west of Ballater and west of Aberdeen. The estate and its original castle were bought ...

Osborne House Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a summer home and rural retreat. Albert designed the house in the style ...

. It was originally a separate enterprise until the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...

purchased it in 1860. The Midland Railway was one of the largest railway companies in Britain. It established itself in Derby more comprehensively than any other railway company in any other town. Derby came to be dominated by railway-related buildings, and the Midland became the town's largest employer. Among its ventures were multiple railway hotels, of which Derby was one of the first. The original building is of red brick construction with a rectangular plan, three storeys high with seven bays at the front. The outer bay on either side protrudes slightly. A stone

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

runs beneath the second-floor windows. The windows are decorated with stone frames and

balconet Balconet or balconette is an architectural term to describe a false balcony, or railing at the outer plane of a window-opening reaching to the floor, and having, when the window is open, the appearance of a balcony. They are common in France, Por ...

s (above the ground floor). The inner bays contain singular windows while on the outer bays the windows are arranged in pairs on the first floor and triplets on the top and bottom floors. A second building, designed by William Henry Hamlyn and built by Holliday and Greenwood was added behind the original between 1933 and 1938, linked to the main building by a single-storey block on the Midland Road side. The second building is also in red brick and of a rectangular plan, with a further three storeys of five bays. The hotel was at one time connected to the station by a glass-covered walkway, and its cellars were linked to the station's via an underground passage. The main entrance, originally on the Midland Road side, was moved to face the station during the 1930s expansion. The hotel was acquired by the

London, Midland & Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally ...

after the Midland was amalgamated as a result of the

Railways Act 1921 The Railways Act 1921 ( 11 & 12 Geo. 5. c. 55), also known as the Grouping Act, was an act of Parliament enacted by the British government, and was intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, by "grou ...

and then by

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

(through

British Transport Hotels British Transport Hotels (BTH) was the hotels and catering business of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. Origins of the company Britain's private railway companies pioneered the concept of the railway hotel, initially at loca ...

) upon nationalisation. British Rail began disposing of its hotel estate and sold the Midland Hotel in 1982. After the demolition of the Euston Hotel in London, the Midland Hotel became the oldest surviving railway hotel in Britain. The hotel is a grade II

and part of Derby's Railway

Conservation Area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...

, which encompasses many railway-related buildings to the east of Derby city centre. The conservation area includes the station, multiple surrounding buildings, and the Midland Railway War Memorial, adjacent to the hotel on Midland Road.

Modern Use

As of 2020, it was understood that the Midland Hotel would be closed for large parts of the year to house refugees and asylum seekers. In 2022, it was reported that the hotel would be closed to all guests year-round to house asylum seekers, causing some controversy around the use of hotels in the asylum process. In 2025, the Government announced the closure of nine hotels hosting asylum seekers after a Home Office spokesperson stated "We are absolutely committed to ending the use of hotels", but refused to confirm if the Midland Hotel was among them.

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://www.hallmarkhotels.co.uk/hotels/hallmark-hotel-derby-midland/ Midland Railway Buildings and structures completed in 1841 Grade II listed buildings in Derby Hotels in Derbyshire Railway hotels in England Francis Thompson buildings

Architecture and history

Modern Use

See also

References

External links