The following text is from the original listed building designation:
1. 5277 ROYAL PIER ROAD (South Side)
The Royal Clarendon Hotel TQ 6474 SE 1/175 TQ 6474 SE 2/175
II GV
2. There was originally a house on this site occupied by James II when Duke of York and Lord High Admiral. It was converted into a hotel in the mid C19. The present building dates from about 1860. 4 storeys stuccoed, the ground floor rusticated. 12 windows. Cornice and parapet above 3rd floor. Modillion cornice above the 2nd floor. 2 projections, not symmetrical, of 2 and 3 windows respectively with stuccoed quoins and iron balconies on lst floor. Windows in moulded surrounds with architraves over, on console brackets and glazing bars intact. Tuscan Porch. To the west is a long low wing of 2 storeys and 11 windows and to the east a 2 storey addition of which the ground floor room is a ballroom. Princess (later Queen) Alexandra spent her first night in England here (the 7th March 1863) on her arrival to marry the Prince of Wales.
No 29, the 3 figureheads in the grounds of No 29 and the Royal Clarendon Hotel form a group.
Listing NGR: TQ6498074384
(1)

In 2008 the building was surveyed during renovation works. The earliest phase of structure incorporated into the building was a small two storey rectangular early brick building. It may have been related to the blockhouse to the north, or coincidently occupies an area where a similar structure is shown on early maps of the area. The building was heavily rebuilt and converted during the Georgian period. Another building incorporated into the later structure may also be of similar date and association with the fort. This structure was dug into the chalk hillside and had a barrel vaulted room. It could also be of Tudor date, as repairs in the brick vaulting are in late 17th/early 18th century brick stock. This building had a stone block floor and could have been a storage space linked to the fort. A number of other structures are of similar date and one features a shaft that was either a well or an ice house. Again, these date to the post medieval period. In the Georgian period a large three or four storey structure was built in the centre of the site. It was heavily modified in the Victorian period when it was incorporated into the rest of the hotel structure and the lobby and staircase added. Generally, during the Victorian period the buildings were rebuilt, extended or modified to form the current structure, though such works continued into the 20th century. (2)

The original house on the site was occupied by James II when Duke of York and Lord High Admiral, it was converted into a hotel in the mid 19th century. The present hotel dates from about 1860 and is a four storeyed, stuccoed building with a rusticated ground floor. To the west of the main block is a long low wing of two storeys and to the east is a two storey addition, the ground floor of which is a ballroom. Princess (later Queen) Alexandra spent her first night in England here on her arrival to marry the Prince of Wales in March 1863. (3)

Historic England archive material: BF033712 CLARENDEN ROYAL HOTEL, ROYAL PIER ROAD, GRAVESEND

<1> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

<2> PRM Archaeology, 2008, Interim Report on the Archaeological & Historic Building Recording Project at The Clarendon Royal Hotel. Royal Pier Road, Gravesend, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE17851.

<3> tp bennett, 2006, The Clarendon Royal Hotel, Royal Pier Road, Gravesend: Conservation Statement (Unpublished document). SKE18125.

<4> RCHME, GENNINGS, HUNTON (Archive). SKE53546.