The Clifton Hotel in Scarborough, in which Wilfred Owen stayed during a period of convalescence in late 1917 before returning to the front line, has been listed for its historic and architectural interest by Historic England.
With its new Grade II listing in place, the building is now protected from change due to its cultural significance and wider heritage. At the time of Owen's stay, the hotel was known as the Clarence Gardens, and his rooms were situated on the top floor of the turret on the side of the building. As the listing explains: "the largely unaltered hotel is one of two known buildings in England where Owen specifically wrote his war poetry and the only one to remain much as he would have recognised."
During the First World War, the hotel served as accomodation for officers and Owen oversaw the running of the establishment in his role as secretary during his stay on the North Yorkshire coast. He wrote in great detail about the hotel and his time there in his letters to his mother, Susan. Owen was billeted at Clarence Gardens after spending time at Craiglockhart in Edinburgh while he recovered from shell-shock, and he worked on several of his most well-known poems, including 'Strange Meeting', while stationed in Scarborough.
The new listing was applied for by a local Scarborough hotelier, Tony Bates, who was interviewed about his success by The Yorkshire Post's Alexandra Wood. In addition to this, Historic England's Tom Frater spoke to the BBC about some of the architectural features within the building and explained the history behind them. You can read more about this brilliant news here and find all of the details of the full listing on the Historic England website now. We thank Tony and all involved for their efforts in making this happen.
Front page image credit: Robert Walton
