Summary

Former Trustee Savings Bank, 1905 by Roger Lofthouse (Middlesbrough) in the Domestic Revival Style, now (2023) in commercial and residential use.

Description

The former Trustee Savings Bank, 1905 by Roger Lofthouse (Middlesbrough) in the Domestic Revival Style, now (2023) in commercial and residential use.

MATERIALS: constructed in brick in English bond, with sandstone dressings, an ashlar gable and a plain clay tile roof.

PLAN: the building occupies a rectangular plot with the principal elevation facing west onto Albert Road, and various rear extensions and access from Albert Mews.

EXTERIOR: it has three storeys and a two-bay gabled frontage. To the left is a round-headed panelled door in a hollow-chamfered surround with enriched spandrels and a three-light mullioned overlight with Art Nouveau glazing. This is flanked by wall posts on corbels. To the right is a modern shop-front and above are a pair of two-storey segment-plan oriel windows. They have hollow-chamfered mullions and transoms, leaded lights with Art Nouveau glazing in the upper lights, moulded sills, cornices, and panelled parapets. The attic storey has a shaped gable which holds similar leaded-light windows under a dripstone. At the ends are short turrets with ornate iron finials. The roof has corniced transverse end stacks.

INTERIOR: it is understood that the front room on the first floor has Jacobean-style geometric interlace-pattern plaster ceiling panels with moulded ribs, leafy bosses and cornice. The interior also contains wood dado panelling and plain fireplaces.

History

Middlesbrough owes its existence to the industrial revolution and a demand for coal and steel. Its growth from a small farming community of around 25 people in 1801 to one of over 90,000 inhabitants by the end of the C19 has been described as unprecedented in British urban history.

The growth was spearheaded by a group of Quaker businessmen headed by Joseph Pease of Darlington who speculatively purchased the Middlesbrough estate, realising the potential of the area, planned the town alongside a new port, and extending the Stockton and Darlington Railway to the banks of the Tees in 1828.

The new town was developed in the 1830s in a grid pattern in an area north of the station and centred around the ‘Market Square’, now the location of the Old Town Hall and Clock Tower (both 1846 and Grade II listed). Further expansion came in the 1850s with the discovery of substantial ironstone deposits in the Cleveland Hills, exploited by the industrialist Henry Bolckow (1806-1878) and John Vaughan (1799-1868) who constructed the town’s first iron foundry. The town was incorporated in 1853, and by 1865 Middlesbrough had become the world’s largest producer of iron, generating a third of Britain’s output. The switch to steel saw Middlesbrough as one of Britain’s leading steel production centres. The area around the station became the focus of Middlesbrough’s financial and commercial district, undergoing significant development in 1870s.

Following the Second World War, Middlesbrough suffered from industrial decline and large parts of the old town were cleared; the Royal Exchange, once a focal point for the financial and corporate life of the town, was demolished to make way for the elevated A66 road in 1985.

Albert Road was laid out in 1856. The former Trustee Savings Bank was built in 1905 to designs by Roger Lofthouse (1845-1867). Lofthouse was a Middlesbrough architect who practised with his sons James Alfred and Thomas Ashton Lofthouse. Lofthouse was born in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire, but set up practice in Middlesbrough around 1875. He worked as a surveyor for Middlesbrough Town Council and was also the Ecclesiastical Surveyor for the Diocese of York. His other work included 11 Zetland Road, Middlesbrough for the North Eastern Daily Gazette (National Heritage List for England (NHLE) entry 1137392).

In 2009 permission was given to convert the upper floors to residential use and a new shop front was also inserted to the ground floor.

Reasons for Listing

The former Trustee Savings Bank, 34-36 Albert Road, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* the building is designed in a high-quality Domestic Revival style that combines red brick and sandstone ashlar, expressing the sophistication and prosperity of its original occupiers;
* the façade is enlivened by decorative features, including Art Nouveau stained glass, shallow bays and small turrets flanking the gable;
* it was built to the designs of architect Roger Lofthouse, who was also Ecclesiastical Surveyor for the Diocese of York, and head of Lofthouse and Sons of Middlesbrough.

Historic interest

* part of Middlesbrough’s high-quality Victorian and Edwardian townscape that was the nucleus of the town’s expansion during the second half of the C19 and early C20, when Middlesbrough was developing as one of the country’s major steel centres.

External Links

• Wikidata Q26432673

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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