Description

CARLISLE

NY4055NW ENGLISH STREET
671-1/12/132 (East side)
18/11/88 Nos.29 AND 31
Midland Bank, including railings

GV II

Bank with manager's house, now bank and offices. Dated 1898,
(re-facing of the 1849 building originally for the Carlisle
City and District Banking Company, by TJ Cox) for the London
and Midland Bank by T Taylor-Scott, with early 1920s extension
for the London Joint City and Midland Bank by the same
architect.
Portland stone ashlar on chamfered plinth (part of basement is
original 1849 calciferous sandstone ashlar from Lanerton
Quarry); columns and pilasters of polished Shap granite;
rusticated quoins, modillioned eaves cornice with open
balustraded parapet. Slate roof, not visible from ground;
Portland stone ashlar ridge and end chimney stacks.
Occupies a prominent corner site in the city centre; English
Street facade of 2 storeys has original (1849) 3 bays at
right, the corner bay now canted (1898) and 2 bays added at
left in 1920s in same style; Bank Street facade has 2 storeys,
3 bays, but the former manager's house at right under same
height balustrade is 3 storeys, 2 bays and treated differently
(all of this facade incorporates the 1849 structure). Both
facades for the banking hall are rusticated with large
round-headed windows with original margin and radial glazing
bars, divided by granite pilasters under frieze with
triglyphs, modern fascia over. Above are sash windows with
upper glazing bars, in rusticated surrounds, with medallions
above keystones. The angle entrance bay has an elaborate porch
with paired Tuscan columns aligned along the axis of the
principal elevations; a recessed round-arched doorway within,
under a date panel; part-balustraded parapet over porch. Above
a tripartite window with Gibbsian surround and segmental
parapet containing a clock which breaks the cornice, all
surmounted by copper-domed cupola with open arcade and weather
vane finial.
The former manager's house has a left round-headed doorway
with segmental pediment on brackets; round-headed ground floor
window. All other windows are small sashes, those on upper
floor with upper glazing bars only, in surrounds similar to
the upper floor of the main facades. Area cast-iron railings
around basement void are 1898 and early 1920s, broken in part
for cash dispensing machines on Bank Street facade.
INTERIOR: extensively altered in 1898; a blind arcade set high
in the banking hall and projecting in the manner of
machicolations is of this date; ribbed plaster ceilings in the
banking hall have been carried into the 1920s extension.
HISTORY: Carlisle Journal, (1849) records the original
building and the laying out of the new street, called Bank
Street after this bank. Carlisle City & District Bank were
taken over by the London and Midland Bank in 1896, Carlisle
Journal (1896). Planned alterations were discussed in Carlisle
Journal (1897). The alteration plans are in Cumbria County
Record Office, Ca/E4/12846, dated 1897. The Carlisle Journal
(1899) records the reopening after the alterations. For
illustration of the bank before alteration see Perriam (1988).
Directories show that in 1920 No.29 English Street was vacant
and in 1921 it formed part of the bank address, which suggests
that this is when the extension was made. Wall and railings
included in the listing.
(Carlisle Journal: 21 December 1849; Carlisle Journal: 31
July/28 August 1986; Carlisle Journal: 26 February 1897;
Carlisle Journal: 23 June 1899; Perriam DR: Carlisle in
Camera: 1988-: P.20).

Listing NGR: NY4012855853

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26491433

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.

Recommended Books

• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)