Repro ID: G936
Title: The Tilbury Hotel.
Description: Built in 1886 to accommodate passengers departing from liners using the Tilbury Docks, the Tilbury Hotel attempted to bring late-Victorian opulence to this rather isolated stretch of the river. Its distinctive appearance was not appreciated by everyone. Joseph Conrad, who passed it many times during his years at sea, called it a 'shapeless and desolate red edifice' that 'towers over the bend in monstrous ugliness'. George Orwell, who saw it nearly half a century later, was even more unkind. The travellers were equally unenthusiastic - the hotel closed after only a year. The building was used for various purposes until it was destroyed by German bombs in 1944.
Creator: unknown
Date: c. 1890
Credit line: National Maritime Museum, London
