The Wellington Hotel is an early Victorian building and was probably named after the Duke of Wellington. The Duke visited Gloucester the year after trouncing Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. 1885 Kellys directory gives the address as New Market, Gloucester. A reference to the Wellington Hotel in 1919 describes it as a ‘first class family hotel conveniently situated for travellers to and from South Wales and the North of England.’

A later advertisement dated 1924 states that ‘The Wellington is a first class family hotel, replete with every comfort and convenience; electric light in every room; situated immediately opposite the Great Western Railway station, and within four minutes’ walk, by covered way, to the London, Midland & Scottish station; close to post and telegraph service and only a few minutes from the cathedral, the docks and centre of the city.’

In 1924 the telephone number for the Wellington Hotel was Gloucester 32.

Allied Breweries owned the Wellington Hotel in the 1980’s. Allied Breweries were one of the ‘big six’ national brewers and traded under the Ansells, Ind Coope and Tetley brands. The Wellington Hotel was branded as an Ansells pub in the 1990’s – a misnomer as the Ansells brewery in Aston, Birmingham, had closed in 1981. A more appropriate branding would have been Ind Coope as the nearby Northgate Brewery in George Street, under in ownership of Arthur Vincent Hatton & Co., was acquired by Ind Coope as long ago as 1896. Is it possible that the Wellington Hotel was the ‘brewery tap’ of the Northgate Brewery?


The Alehouse Company of Southampton purchased it in April 1997. The Wellington Hotel was sold to the Chapman Group in April 2001 who renamed it the Station Hotel.

August 2006. As seen from the Railway Station



The Citizen, Thursday 16th November 2023 – Bid to turn landmark hotel into homeless housing rejected: Plans to turn a landmark city centre hotel into what could have been emergency housing for the homeless in Gloucester have been turned down. London & Wiltshire’s scheme to convert the first and second floors of the Station Hotel into a 17-bed house in multiple occupation was turned down by Gloucester City Council on 7th November.

The company’s plans for the three-storey 19th century building included keeping the ground floor as a pub. The city council’s housing department had said there is a need for HMO accommodation in Gloucester to help meet a need for specialist accommodation such as emergency housing.

The HMO would have been accessed from an existing doorway along the west of the building on Bruton Way, which currently leads to the stairs serving the hotel. The idea was for the pub to continue to be accessed via the main front entrance to the south of the building and no access would have be available to the pub via the HMO entrance. The existing yard area to the side of the pub was proposed to provide bin and cycle storage .

But councillors expressed dismay at the lack of amenity for families who would live there. The planning application was all ‘bits and pieces’, according to Councillor Pam Tracey (C., Westgate). She was concerned about the road safety risk for children living there and questioned why it could not be used as a hotel given the tens of millions being spent on The Forum development just across the road.

The committee voted to reject the proposals by six votes in favour, four against and one abstention.


Owner in 1996: Allied Domenq (Branded as Ansell’s)

Owner in 1997: The Alehouse Company

Owners in 2008: The Chapman Group


Landlords / Proprietors:

1856 Charles Jeffrey Gorely

1879 J. Blakesley (opposite the Railway Station)

1885 Hy. Rd. James Braine

1893 H.R. Braise (Wellington, George Street)

1906,1919 Henry Braine

1924 W.A. Johns

1957 Charles Copley

1997 David Peploe (Wellington Hotel)

2001 Ramsay Smith (Station Hotel Bar and Grill)

2002 Julie Strain (manager Station Café Bar and Hotel)

2004 Richard Carr and Sheleen Keeley (managers Station Café Bar and Hotel)

2005,2006 Brian Base (Station Café Bar and Hotel)

Share this Page: