Cromwell's of Shrewsbury Hotel.

Until the middle of the 20th Century the building was a private house. In 1886 it was occupied by L.J.R. Oxley a dental surgeon and from around 1917 until the Second World War by the Misses Lloyd. It was then transformed into the Warwick, a private residential hotel run by H. Bradbury. The hotel was run later by F. and E. Trow who advertised their licensed restaurant with its full menu and fresh salads. The accommodation offered was fairly basic, just bed and breakfast, with hot and cold running water and an electric fire in each room.

Beneath the plaster on the outside of the hotel is a fine early 17th Century timber-framed building, which blends in well with other buildings on the street. The interior also contains many of its original features including a great deal of panelling and a fine Jacobean staircase.

In 1961 the hotel was sold for £6000 to a London development company who wanted to demolish the old building and erect a new office and showroom on the site. There was a huge protest and a preservation order was placed on the building by the Town Council. A counter petition was put up by the developers, which led to a Ministry of Housing and Local Government Inquiry, held at the Castle on 7th November 1961. The argument by both the architect and the consultant engineer for the developers was that the building was unsafe. They thought that it would cost around £10,000 to put the building back into a fit state of repair and at the present time, if a heavy wind blew, they would be very worried about the consequences. They also described the front of the building as 'an abortion', and the area of Dogpole where the house stands as ' not attractive and on either side of the building there are places of no outstanding character. It is a bastard street.'

Mr. A.T. Morris the Borough Surveyor said, 'To demolish Shrewsbury's old Warwick Hotel would be little short of vandalism'. He also told the Inquiry that it wasn't uncommon in timber-framed buildings for the chimney breasts and walls to be out of plumb, for doors and windows to be out of alignment and floors slightly tilted, but having stood for several hundred years, with ordinary maintenance should stand for many more. Mr. Ronald Milton an architect who owned the property next to the hotel pointed out to the Inquiry that the difference between renovation or demolition was only £50; and the house having such a prominent position on Dogpole would mean that 'much of the character of the street would be lost if it was demolished.'

After three month of deliberation the Inspector came down on the side of the Borough Council and although he agreed with the developers that they would get a better return if the site were redeveloped, they had been under no obligation to buy it. He then recommended the preservation order be confirmed because of the buildings appearance and its unspoilt character and its special architectural and historic interest and the adverse affect demolition would have on the character and appearance of Dogpole.

Within two months the property was sold for an undisclosed amount to Jack Williams and was transformed into a health food shop and café called Healthiways.