In the early 19th century travel between London and Scotland was no easy feat. The proposed solution was the break up the journey with an overnight stay in Fleetwood before boarding a ferry to the South Western coast of Scotland where rail travel would resume. To facilitate the overnight stay, landowner Sir Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood commissioned respected architect Decimus Burton to design and build a hotel.
Offering sweeping views across the bay to the Lake District, the hotel was in a prime position with the curved façade dominating the Esplanade. Opened in 1841, the hotel boasted a bath house, drawing room and billiard room and offered guests both hourly and daily hire of carriages, saddle horses and sail boats.
By 1850 the stopover in Fleetwood was rendered unnecessary with the arrival of a direct rail service from London to Scotland. With fewer overnight visitors to the town the hotel’s future was at risk. The government bought the building in 1859 and it became Euston Barracks, operating as a school of musketry and office quarters. A government stamp can be seen on the side of the building to reflect this period of its history.
In 1897 the building was sold once more, and a number of refurbishments took place including the removal of the bath house and the West Wing beyond the ballroom. Adverts boasted a rooftop promenade over 100m long which would offer panoramic views of the coast.
Major refurbishments took place in 1980 to emphasise the hotel as a heritage site, and nearly thirty years later it was bought by a St Annes family who wished to modernise the venue whilst protecting its colourful history.
In 2014, following the removal of a brick wall below street level, a maze of cellars was unearthed which hadn’t been used for over 100 years. One of the discovered rooms has a name and address etched eerily into the wall, another a fireplace, and it is thought that one of the rooms could have been used as a stable.
The North Euston hotel is still one of the top-rated hotels in Fleetwood with the same unrivalled views that it boasted nearly 200 years ago. With weekly tea-dances, pub quizzes and a restaurant and bar on-site, it is well-used by locals and visitors alike.