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The Star and Garter Hotel in Richmond was a hotel located in the London countryside (later suburbs) on Richmond Hill overlooking the Thames Valley, on the site now occupied by the Royal Star and Garter Home. The first establishment on the site, an inn built in 1738, was relatively small. This was followed by several other buildings of increasing size and varied design as the site changed from family ownership to being run by a limited company. Some of the rebuilding or extension work took place following fires that by 1888 had destroyed most of the original buildings. At various times architects were commissioned to build grand new buildings or extensions to take advantage of the famed view over the river and valley below, with the largest being the 1860s chateau block by E. M. Barry. The hotel reached the peak of its fame as Richmond itself expanded in the 19th century during the Victorian era. In the period from the 1830s to the 1890s, the hotel guests ranged from literary figures such as Charles Dickens to exiled crowned heads of Europe such as King Louis-Philippe and his wife. The hotel's reputation spread to other countries, with guests arriving from the USA and Europe, or travelling by horse and carriage from London to visit the area and stay at the hotel. In the later years of the 19th century, the hotel and its concert hall, banquet hall, and gardens were used for public dinners, fetes and fundraising gatherings, often attended by local grandees and members of the royal family. Following the end of the Victorian era, the rise of the motor car and more widespread travel led to a decline in the hotel's fortunes, and it failed twice to be sold at auction. During World War I it was purchased by the Auctioneers and Estate Agents Institute and donated to Queen Mary in 1916 in support of her plans to establish a home for paralysed and permanently disabled soldiers. The hotel buildings were demolished and rebuilt as a care home beginning in 1919; the new building was dedicated in 1924 as the Women of the Empire's Memorial of the Great War. ==Early years== During the 18th century Richmond and its surroundings were mostly still countryside and parkland with several villas and estates along the River Thames, together with scattered villages and towns. The land on which the Star and Garter Hotel was later built was owned by the Earl of Dysart and is located on the river-facing side of Richmond Hill, next to the Richmond Gates of Richmond Park (enclosed 1637) and overlooking Petersham Common, an area of grazing meadows and common land between the hill and the river. The land, initially only enough for the building of a small inn in 1738, was leased from the Earl by a John Christopher (died 1758). This inn bore the name "Star and Garter", a name that was and still is common among inns and hotels around Britain.〔(The Original ‘Star and Garter’, Richmond Hill ), Local History Notes, Richmond Libraries' Local Studies Collection, accessed 19 April 2010〕 Little is known about the subsequent early history other than a rebuilding of the inn, but in the year 1780 a private residence that had been built next to the inn became part of what could now be called a hotel, though it was also referred to as an inn or tavern. In the early 19th century, the establishment went through three owners starting with a Richard Brewer who leased more land from the Earl of Dysart in 1803. An idea of the value of the site can be ascertained from the rental value for the new land of 60 shillings per year. However, Brewer's management and expansion of the hotel left him over-extended financially and he was declared bankrupt and died in a debtors' prison in 1808.〔 The hotel then passed into the hands of a Christopher Crean who made changes and reopened the hotel in 1809. Prices, said to be half a sovereign to "look through a window" were considered "exorbitant". Following Crean's death in 1815, his widow continued to run the property, though with a mortgage of £4000. It was the need to pay off this mortgage that led to the hotel being sold in 1822, when it was purchased by a Joseph Ellis for £11,022.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Star and Garter Hotel, Richmond」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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