Railway Hotel

A building in decidedly two halves: the painted early nineteenth-century brick structure serves as the restaurant but what is of interest to us is the large red-brick block designed in 1898 for Shepherd Neame by Edward Pover & Son of Faversham (who drawings are displayed and who also worked at the Bear). What remains is much window glass and the spacious, elegant L-shaped servery (with impressively curved bar counter) and wonderful full-height back fitting divided up by tall columns: especially notable is the series of no less than twelve drawers (a UK record?) for cash and storage. As built, there was a hotel entrance on Preston Street (reception desk still there) and a public bar on the corner flanked by a pair of private bars: then beyond the right-hand one of these and partly behind the servery was a lounge. All this can still be read – but no thanks to what happened in 1966 when the place was opened up. But then, in 2007, under the enlightened Chris MacLean, three screens were reinstated in their original positions (albeit with openings), so we can appreciate the place much as fin-de-siècle travellers did as they waited for or piled off their trains!