Description
Built in 1923 and designed by Halifax architect Andrew Cobb, the Glynmill Inn is a three-and-a-half storey hotel with a basement level. This Tudor Revival-style hotel is located sits on a hill overlooking the city of Corner Brook, NL. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.
Statement of Significance
Formal Recognition Type
Registered Heritage Structure
Heritage Value
The Glynmill Inn was designated a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2001 for its aesthetic, historic and cultural value.
The Glynmill Inn was designed by Halifax architect Andrew Cobb for Newfoundland Power & Paper Company Limited. Cobb had a profound impact on the built environment of Corner Brook. He was commissioned to design not only the Inn, but the entire Townsite neighbourhood of Corner Brook – approximately 175 buildings for the new company town. Cobb’s commission came from the Armstrong-Whitworth Limited Company of England, who brought the pulp and paper industry to Corner Brook. The Glynmill Inn takes its name from Sir Glyn West, chairman of Armstrong-Whitworth during the paper mill’s construction. The street on which the Inn sits – Cobb’s Lane – is named in recognition of the architect’s work.
The Glynmill Inn was intended as living quarters for the senior staff overseeing the construction of the pulp and paper mill in Corner Brook. After becoming a company hotel in 1924, the Glynmill Inn became a hub for social activity in Corner Brook. It contained two dining rooms and two members-only bars. The man-made Glynmill Pond was flooded in the winter for use as a skating rink. Many clubs and societies like Rotary Society and the Girl Guides had their first local meetings there and, more recently, it hosted the March Hare Literary Festival for over thirty years. The Glynmill Inn has been operated as a hotel for the general public since its purchase by Atlantic Inns Limited in 1974.
The Glynmill Inn is the province’s most dramatic example of a building in the twentieth-century Tudor Revival style. While using a simpler Craftsman style for the workers’ houses in Corner Brook, Andrew Cobb designed the Inn and other housing for mill supervisors in more elaborate Classical Revival and Tudor Revival styles. The Glynmill Inn retains its Tudor mock half-timbering, as well as much of the interior decor reflective of the Craftsman style. After a fire severely damaged the right wing of the hotel on Jan 30, 1929, it was rebuilt as closely to Cobb’s design as possible. Modern expansions in 1974 and 1994 have diverted much more visibly from the original style of the building. Despite these additions, the Glynmill Inn remains one of the most recognizable historic buildings in Corner Brook. Surrounded by flowers and mature trees, the Inn sits atop a small hill overlooking the paper mill, and the city of Corner Brook.
Source: Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador property file “ Corner Brook – Glynmill Inn – FPT 1691”
Character Defining Elements
All those features that are representative of the Tudor Revival style of architecture, including:
-multi-pitch gable roof;
-half timber framing, decorative woodwork;
-stuccoed exterior on upper storeys;
-brick exterior on first storey;
-symmetrical placement of single hung 1/1 windows, and;
-all those interior features, including exposed ceiling timbers and mantle pieces, that are representative of the Arts and Crafts movement.
All those features that are reflective of the building’s association with the pulp and paper industry in Corner Brook, including:
-hilltop location, overlooking the Townsite neighbourhood and the paper mill;
-large lot with flowers, mature trees and artificial pond, and;
-name of building.
Location and History
Community
Corner Brook
Municipality
City of Corner Brook
Civic Address
001 Cobb Lane
Construction (circa)
1923 - 1923
Builder
Andrew Cobb, Armstrong-Whitworth Limited Company of England
Style
H - Shape
Location
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