Plea for cash to restore hotel where Beatles stayed

Bids for funding to restore a former hotel that previously hosted Charles Dickens and The Beatles have been submitted.

The Great White Horse Hotel on the corner of Tavern Street and Northgate Street in Ipswich, Suffolk, has been empty since 2024.

Property developer John Howard now owns the building and plans to convert the upper floors of the hotel into flats, with shops on the street front.

Howard said he had applied for emergency funding from Historic England to repair the roof and replace the windows with a grant being sought from Ipswich Borough Council for restoration work.

As well as Dickens and The Beatles, who played at the Ipswich Gaumont (now The Regent) in 1963 and 1964, the hotel's former patrons also include King George II and Admiral Lord Nelson.

The White Horse Hotel has hosted King George II, Admiral Lord Nelson and The Beatles over the years [Ben Parker/BBC]

The hotel is a Grade II* listed building, Howard said: "To do the work to a listed building, it is so, so expensive, so we need an emergency grant to re-roof it, put new windows in, that's the first thing."

Planning permission was granted earlier this year for 21 flats, a rooftop garden and three shops on the ground floor.

Howard said tenants for two of the shops had been found. They were previously occupied by a cafe chain and outdoor equipment shop, but the units have been empty for more than five years.

Part of the bar at the hotel is retained in what formally was a courtyard [Ben Parker/BBC]

"Hopefully Ipswich Borough Council won't let me down here and we'll get a grant as part of the Towns Fund to help restore the building to its former glory," Howard said.

The government's Towns Fund is now part of the Local Regeneration Fund, from which the council was awarded £25m in 2021.

The council said it did not comment on applications for grant funding until a legally binding agreement was reached.

Neil MacDonald, Ipswich Borough Council's Labour leader, said: "I'm delighted that the new owner of the Great White Horse Hotel has started to bring the unoccupied retail units back into use and has been granted planning permission for a change of use for much of the building.

"This will allow it to be repurposed to better suit a future town centre model with a dynamic mix of shops, services, entertainment, leisure, eating places, culture, homes and workplaces."

Historic England have been contacted for comment.

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