John Dower house is one of Cheltenham's most impressive buildings. Ashlar-faced, four stories high, with a central Ionic portico, it was built in 1820 as a hotel. The coat of arms over the door commemorates a stay here in 1827 by the Duchess of Clarence, later Queen Adelaide, wife of William IV. The building has also been a police station - 1857 to 1859 - and today it houses the Countryside Agency.
