The Lord Warden Hotel was opened
by the
South
Eastern Railway in September 1853. It was built
next door to the
Town
Station , to which it was connected by a glazed
walkway at first floor level. It was ideally placed
for the cross channel traveller right by the
Admiralty
Pier, where the cross-Channel steamers berthed.
The hotel attracted a clientele from the rich and
famous en route to and from the Continent.
Charles
Dickens was a guest as was William Makepeace Thackeray.
In March 1871 the deposed Emperor Napoleon III of
France arrived to be reunited with his wife Eugenie
here. Between the
First
and
Second World
Wars the hotel still attracted a well-heeled travelling
clientele. The hotel’s celebrated ballroom was much
used by local organisations for annual dinners, dances
and other events.
During the
Second
World War it was taken over by the Royal Navy
and known as HMS Wasp. It was the headquarters for
the Coastal Force, made up of motor torpedo boats,
motor gun boats and air-sea rescue craft. This was
where the crews were billeted and the signals section,
plotting rooms and offices were located. The craft
themselves were based in the Ferry Dock and the
Camber
area of the
Harbour.
After the war the building was taken over as offices
by the Southern Region of British Rail and renamed
Southern House. It was later used by HM Customs and
Excise before being purchased for use as offices by
the shipping line, Stena. In 1999 it was bought by
the Dover Harbour Board and refurbished for use by
freight agents in conjunction with new Customs clearance
facilities being built nearby. The building was also
renamed Lord Warden House at the same time.
