Historic Listing For Thame Landmark Turned Down

A request for the Essex House Hotel on the outskirts of Thame to be made a Listed building, has been rejected by English Heritage.
Thame Town Council applied for the building to be Listed following the submission of a planning application to demolish it and build two blocks of 12 flats each, in its place. See Link
for original report of the Planning meeting.
In its reply to the town council, English Heritage stated that the building “…..is not of special architectural or historic interest and should not be listed.”
The reasons give are: that the building appears to be mid-Victorian and was put forward for listing because there are current plans for the redevelopment of the site; that the building is red brick, two-storey, with dormers in the roof space. It has been extended and undergone alterations in connection with its hotel use; that the building lacks any architectural detailing or innovation in form that would make it of special interest.

The letter concludes that although the building may be of local interest, it has been too altered and lacks sufficient architectural or historic interest, in the national context, to merit listing.

At a meeting of the town council’s planning committee last Tuesday, March 7, Cllr David Dodds said that English Heritage “fails to recognise the importance of the building in its historical context, first being The Railway Hotel, and the important aspect of the building in the street scene.”
Cllr Beatrice Dobie added that Essex House marks the Victorian boundary of the town.

The committee agreed to appeal to Tessa Jowell at the Dept For Culture, Media and Sport, to re-consider English Heritage’s decision and for the row of old railway workers’ cottages in Bridge Terrace adjacent to the hotel, to be included in the Listing.