Midland Hotel, Derby
Built in 1841 by Francis Thompson, it is the oldest railway hotel in Britain.
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Midland Road, Derby, DE1 2SQ
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By 1840 three important railway lines had met at Derby. The Midland Counties from Leicester and Nottingham, the Birmingham & Derby Junction from Birmingham, and the North Midland from Leeds. In 1841 the Midland Hotel opened just opposite the station and both were designed by Francis Thompson who later did work for the Chester & Holyhead and the Eastern Counties (see Audley End and Holywell Junction entries).
Sadly his work at the station has been progressively destroyed but the hotel remains little altered. The hotel is a Georgian style building with small balconies, a plain second floor cornice, and sash windows.
The hotel was refurbished under new ownership as the Hallmark and then Best Weestern Derby Midland Hotel.
Sadly this has closed and the building appears somewhat unloved (as of April 2021)
In Railway Terrace there are 80 houses by Francis Thompson which were built in 1841 by the North Midland Railway for its employees. They are an example of early railway dwellings to be compared with those at Swindon and Crewe.
By Road and Rail: Opposite the exit from Derby Station in the centre of Derby.
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