Bedford Hotel, Homerton

Local listing:- An exceptionally striking and original mid-Victorian public house built by Thomas Ennor. It occupies a striking position on a junction and commands the view from Well Street Common and from Victoria Park Road to the east. The building is wedge shaped reflecting its position on a junction with façades facing roughly south east, east-north east and north. There are large and striking staggered quoins at each end of the building and separating and delineating the different facades. Attention from a distance is commanded by the striking fenestration at first floor level. Tall round headed windows set mostly as pairs but with one single and one triplet. Pairs and triples are separated by Corinthian columns (double columns for the triplet) surmounted by entablature with strongly projecting cornice supported by console brackets. These windows rest on plaster frieze descending to the cornice spearing first and ground floor – a striking composition. Second floor windows arranged in similar groupings smaller but with striking round arches ending on projecting unsupported brackets. The windows on all three facades are tied by a string course at the base. The window compositions are framed by a projecting cornice with numerous corbels beneath the roof, and by staggered quoins at the angles of the building and the massive cornice between first and ground floors. The ground floor has been painted blue subsequent to conversion to residential use but this dramatises the window composition above. The ground floor has deep rusticated stucco with impressive porticoes entrances on each façade, two closed off since conversion to residential use. These porticos feature exaggerated and striking lion head brackets each lion holding bursting fruit swags – almost recklessly out of proportion with the rest of the building but extremely striking.