The Town Crier was built in 1865 as a hotel.[1] Its original name was either the Queen Commercial Hotel,[2] or the Albion Hotel.[3] On the opposite corner was the Queen Hotel, which was intended to serve the first-class railway passengers; the Town Crier was for the rest.[3] The two hotels were linked by an underground passage.[2] This building has subsequently been used as a public house.[4]
Architecture
The building is constructed in brick and render and is in Italianate style. It has two storeys and a basement, with ten windows on the Station Road side, three on the quadrant corner, and four on the side facing City Road. The windows in the ground floor have segmental heads, and are separated by Doricpilasters; those in the upper floor have straight heads. All the windows are sashes.[1]