New lease of life for Regency building in Leamington's Old Town

As part of a regular feature, we will be looking into the regeneration of Leamington's Old Town. This week, following extensive refurbishment work, the Courier takes a look inside at the former Temperance Hotel. The building has now been reopened as a multi-purpose venue incorporating art, music, entertainment and a cafe.
Feature - the newly refurbished Temperance Hotel, which is now a coffee shop, cinema and art gallery venue. NNL-180309-200222009Feature - the newly refurbished Temperance Hotel, which is now a coffee shop, cinema and art gallery venue. NNL-180309-200222009
Feature - the newly refurbished Temperance Hotel, which is now a coffee shop, cinema and art gallery venue. NNL-180309-200222009

One of Leamington’s iconic Regency buildings has been given a new lease of life after a year-long refurbishment.

The former Temperance Hotel building, which is in Bath Street in Old Town, underwent an extensive refurbishment to become the multi-purpose building it is now.

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Now called ‘Temperance’, the building is owned and run by Adrian Gains. He said: “The building as around 200 years old and it is a typical Regency building in the oldest part of Leamington. It started off as a drapers and then became the Westminster Temperance Hotel and Coffee Tavern. It was hotel until the 1930s and then became a sports and toy shop. Then in the 1960s/1970s it became Cartwrights Sports Shop.

Feature - the newly refurbished Temperance Hotel, which is now a coffee shop, cinema and art gallery venue. NNL-180309-201313009Feature - the newly refurbished Temperance Hotel, which is now a coffee shop, cinema and art gallery venue. NNL-180309-201313009
Feature - the newly refurbished Temperance Hotel, which is now a coffee shop, cinema and art gallery venue. NNL-180309-201313009

“I bought the building a couple of years ago when it was a second hand furniture shop called ‘Shop of Treasures’.”

Because of the condition of the building, Adrian refurbished both inside and outside. He said: “It was in a very poor condition and it had not been touched for decades so I completely gutted and refurbished it.

“The cellar was also damaged by the floods in the late 1990s.

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“I completely took everything back to brick and restored it to how it was. It is a grade II listed building so the work needed to be done sympathetically and I also decided to stick with the name of 
‘Temperance’.”

Feature - the newly refurbished Temperance Hotel, which is now a coffee shop, cinema and art gallery venue. NNL-180309-200905009Feature - the newly refurbished Temperance Hotel, which is now a coffee shop, cinema and art gallery venue. NNL-180309-200905009
Feature - the newly refurbished Temperance Hotel, which is now a coffee shop, cinema and art gallery venue. NNL-180309-200905009

The Temperance reopened in May and now incorporates art, a cafe and entertainment.

“I decided to open it as a sort of creative centre,” said Adrian. “By the day it is a cafe and art gallery, which also has vintage items for sale.

“We have four cinema screens where we show films and national theatre, we have live music from local bands, comedy nights and story telling. I also think we are a first for Leamington as we have a bar but don’t serve alcohol, but this has gone down quite well. This area in Old Town is coming up, there are new shops and restaurants which are encouraging signs that it will be restored to its former glory.”

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Adrian, who owns the Temperance, was also presented with a certificate by the Leamington Society in recognition of the work done to the historic building.

Adrian Gains, the owner of the Temperance in Old Town. NNL-180309-200140009Adrian Gains, the owner of the Temperance in Old Town. NNL-180309-200140009
Adrian Gains, the owner of the Temperance in Old Town. NNL-180309-200140009

The Temperance, which is located in Bath Street, is open seven days a week from 9am to 7pm.

Events take place throughout the week ranging from live music to story telling evenings.

For more information about events go to: https://www.facebook.com/temperance.cafe