The former Commercial Hotel began as a low late-eighteenth-century inn and was raised to two storeys, leaving its changing materials and irregular openings visible in the present house.
Quick facts
- Date
- Between about 1770 and 1800; raised after the mid nineteenth century
- Architect / designer
- Builder unknown
- Type
- Former inn and public house, later enlarged and converted to a dwelling
- Designation
- Listed building, Category C (LB19575)
- OS grid reference
- NX 33899 43520
Architecture and continuing use
The rendered building has coursed rubble at ground level and brick above, with three broad upper bays over a less regular ground floor. A two-leaf door and fanlight, projecting cills, twelve-pane sashes, multiple stacks and rear jambs record its incremental enlargement.
Its story
Constructed during the first generation of the planned village, the building was labelled Ship Inn and Post Office on the first Ordnance Survey map. A second storey was added after the mid nineteenth century. It later traded as the Commercial Hotel before closing around 2004 and becoming a private dwelling.
Why it is included
It connects Port William’s foundation with coaching, post, travel and licensed hospitality, while its fabric demonstrates how a small inn expanded rather than being replaced.
What to notice
- The difference between rubble ground floor and brick upper work.
- Widely spaced lower windows surviving from the early inn.
- Several rear additions and chimneystacks from successive changes.
Reading the surroundings
This is a private dwelling. View from public pavement without entering the property, blocking its doorway or photographing occupants or interiors intrusively.
Timeline
- About 1770–1800 A single-storey inn was built during the planned village’s first decades.
- 1848 The premises appeared as the Ship Inn and Post Office on Ordnance Survey mapping.
- After the mid nineteenth century A brick-built upper floor expanded the former inn.
- Around 2004 Hotel and public-house use ceased before conversion to a dwelling.
What we know — and what remains uncertain
The construction window is broad and the precise date of the upper floor is not recorded. HES established dwelling use in 2015–16, but current private occupancy is deliberately unnamed.
Sources & further reading
- Historic Environment Scotland: Former Commercial Hotel, Port William, LB19575 — Current designation status, official mapped location, date, fabric and significance.
- Port William Local Place Plan 2024–2034 — Recent community and local-authority evidence for village development, present facilities and the condition or use of key sites.
- Trove search: Former Commercial Hotel, Port William — National collection search for site records, surveys, photographs and archive material.
Location
OS grid reference NX 33899 43520 · Location confidence: High for the current national designation point; public text separately states access, component-identity and current-use uncertainty. · Select the marker to open its satellite view in Google Maps. On desktop, drag Pegman (the yellow figure) onto a blue road. On mobile, turn on the Street View layer and tap a blue road. Other photo markers may be user-contributed.
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