16-18 South Parade and rear boundary wall, Weston-Super-Mare, North Somerset

Summary

Former bank, now café-bar and offices, built probably in the late 1860s for the Stuckey Banking Company Ltd; altered and extended to rear in 1929. Further late-C20 alterations.

Description

Former bank, now café bar and offices, built probably in the late 1860s for the Stuckey Banking Company Ltd; altered and extended to rear in 1929. Further late-C20 alterations.

MATERIALS
Constructed of Bath stone under hipped, slate roofs with two ridge chimneystacks and further stack to the west and north ends. The rear additions are in matching materials with asphalt-covered, flat roofs.

PLAN
The building has a rectangular footprint, but was originally T-shaped in plan.

EXTERIOR
The building is situated in a prominent corner location, with South Parade to the front and side, and West Street to the rear. It is in an Italianate style, described as a ‘convincing Florentine palazzo’ (Pevsner, see Sources), and comprises a principal (south) three-storey, L-shaped building and single- and two-storey blocks to the rear. The South Parade elevations have a chamfered plinth, ground-floor dentil impost band, modillion course, moulded cill and impost bands to the first floor, second-floor dentil cill band and moulded impost band, and a heavy, projecting bracketed eaves cornice. The three-bay entrance front is symmetrical. Its ground floor has a central tripartite window recessed in an arcade of round-headed arches with half columns, composite capitals, coats of arms carving to the spandrels, and panelled aprons. The hoodmould is embellished. In the outer bays on either side is a recessed entrance of paired, timber, panelled doors within a round-arched surround with composite capitals to the impost band and a round-arched hoodmould with fleur-de-lys carvings and label-stops. The left-hand doorway has an overlight of plain glass with dentil moulding to the lower part of its frame; above the right-hand doorway is a tripartite keystone, and within the arch is a cartouche enriched with a festoon of fruit and flora. To the first-floor are round-headed sash windows with marginal lights; paired windows to the outer bays and three windows to the wide central bay. All have enriched surrounds of pilasters with fields of carved floral motifs, composite capitals from which spring round-arched heads with raised decoration, and rosettes to the spandrels of the three centre windows. The shorter, second floor has a similar pattern of windows to the first floor, though they are square headed, and between the cill and impost bands are regularly-spaced, fielded pilasters, most of which form the window jambs. The east elevation of the principal three-storey building is similarly styled, with three sash windows to each floor; those to the ground and first floors with marginal lights. This elevation continues as a slightly set-back, single-storey section (added 1929), higher at its right-hand end, and surmounted by parapets with stone balustrading. There is a round-arched window with embellished surround to the far right. The canted corner and rear elevation of the single-storey part has sash windows with marginal lights within plain surrounds with keystones; a late-C20 inserted doorway with a modern canopy, accessed from a flight of steps; narrow, paired casement windows; a second entrance with a modern door in a tall round-arched surround with a circular toplight; and beyond this are four further narrow, casements. The rear (north) of the three-storey building is plainer, with cill and impost bands to the upper floors and fielded pilasters at second-floor level. Most of its windows have been replaced with uPVC except for a first-floor and second-floor sash.

INTERIOR
The main (north) entrance leads through to a timber and glazed lobby and the former banking hall. Most of the ground floor was originally occupied by the L-shaped banking hall, with a waiting room, manager’s office and lavatories to the rear, and strong rooms behind, and to the right of the banking hall. The space has been opened-up and bar counters added along two sides of the former banking hall. The room has compartmental ceilings with dentil and modillion detailing which are supported by columns with composite capitals, and the internal face of the surround of the south-facing tripartite window is decorated with a series of paterae and dentil moulding and is set within a bolection-moulded frame. The rear part of the banking hall which was added in 1929 was originally lit by a roof lantern which is no longer extant, but the archway that previously led through to a former waiting room adjacent to the manager’s office survives. This has a lugged architrave and a tripartite keystone. The upper floors, which are accessed from the second entrance to the front of the building, were not inspected (2017).

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES
To the front (south) of the building is a short flight of steps and an access ramp which are bounded by a low stone wall with a balustrade of stainless steel. These were added in the early C21. At the rear of the building is a boundary wall of Bath stone on a chamfered plinth of dressed local stone. Within the wall is a pedestrian gateway which leads into a small courtyard that contains an external metal staircase.

History

The Stuckey Banking Company Ltd was a joint-stock bank that was established by the amalgamation of three Stuckey family banks in 1826. The early policy of the company was to expand throughout Somerset and Bristol, acquiring other banks in the region, and under the leadership of Vincent Stuckey it became a major West Country bank with, at one time, a banknote circulation second only to the Bank of England. In 1909, by which time the company had some 70 branches and sub-branches, Stuckey's amalgamated with Parr's Bank and its privilege of issuing banknotes lapsed. Parr's Bank subsequently merged with the London County and Westminster Bank; the name being shortened to Westminster Bank Ltd in 1923. A further merger resulted in the establishment of the National Westminster Bank in 1970.

The Stuckey Banking Company first opened a branch in Weston-super-Mare around 1830 and its branch on South Parade opened probably in the late 1860s. It occupies a prominent corner position which is understood to have been the site of a villa that was demolished to make way for the bank. In 1929 alterations and additions were undertaken to the rear part of the building, to the designs of architects Fry, Paterson and Jones, in order to enlarge the banking hall and provide a new strong room, manager’s office, waiting room and toilets. The bank closed in the late C20 and the building has since been converted to a café bar, with office accommodation to the upper floors.

Reasons for Listing

16-18 South Parade, a former bank of the 1860s, extended and altered in 1929, with further alterations in the late C20, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* For its well-executed and highly-distinctive Italianate design, constructed of high-quality ashlar and embellished with good-quality carving and detailing;
* The building's high architectural calibre is representative of bank architecture in being outwardly impressive and embodying a sense of reliability, confidence and security;
* A degree of alteration has occurred to the internal spaces, yet the quality of the exterior is echoed in the decorative treatment of the former banking hall

Historic interest:
* For its historical association with the Stuckey Banking Company, a major West Country bank during the C19 which, at one time had a banknote circulation second only to the Bank of England.

External Links

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