Former Union Bank of York, 1 and 3 Trinity House Lane, Kingston upon Hull, City of Kingston upon Hull

Summary

Former Union Bank of York, built around 1895, designed by William Warlow Gwyther of London.

Description

Former Pease and York Union Bank, built around 1895, designed by William Warlow Gwyther of London. Classical style.

MATERIALS: Ancaster ashlar with granite plinth, wrought iron and concrete floor supported on cast-iron columns.

PLAN: the building stands on a polygonal corner site facing Trinity House Lane and Silver Street. It has a three-storey north-south aligned polygonal range which is attached to an east-west aligned trapezoidal range on its south-east corner. On the north elevation, facing Silver Street, is a flat roof two-storey rectangular extension with a bowed north-west corner. To the rear (east) is a single-storey flat roof L-shaped range, with roof lanterns, and another small single-storey block to the south embraced between the main and trapezoidal range.

EXTERIOR: the main three-storey building has an alternating mansard and pitched roof, with a single low-pitched pedimented gable end facing west. It has six ashlar ridge stacks facing the streets and three brick stacks to the rear. The trapezoidal three-storey range behind has four brick stacks. The main three-storey, seven-bay, block facing Trinity House Lane (east) has a deep red virgo granite plinth and a banded and rusticated ground floor with a plain architrave and moulded and dentillated cornice above. The first floor has moulded ashlar window surrounds, with wooden framed casements, above a pseudo-parapet with blind balustrades below windows. The second floor has round-headed windows with keystone and moulded ashlar arches and string bands running through the window imposts and sills, the window imposts share square or column shafts. They have projecting balustraded balconettes, with plain pedestals, supported on scrolled brackets. Rising above the upper floors is a dentillated and bracketed moulded roof cornice with a pedestal and pierced balustrade parapet.

The banking entrance porch is in the second bay south. Two giant pilasters rise through the elevation to a dentillated and bracketed pediment with a monogram and supporters in the tympanum. On the ground floor is a projecting entrance porch with paired Ionic granite columns rising from the plinth to an entablature and a broken swan-neck and triangular pediment, with ball-finialled pedestals. The triangular pediment is ornamented with egg-and-dart moulding and an ashlar block below contains three coats of arms in a sculpted panel, including York (central) and Pease (right). The doorway has granite pilaster jambs supporting a keystone and moulded arch with ornamental ashlar carved spandrels. It has a half-round glazed overlight, covered by a scroll-work grill panel, set over a two-leaf iron scroll-work gate. Either side, between the paired columns, is a tall window with similarly styled scroll-work grill panels. Above the projecting porch are two separated first-floor windows, and the second floor has a group of three arched windows, the outer windows with a blind balustrade and the central with a projecting balustrade parapet. The entrance bay is flanked to the left (north) by a single bay and to the right (south) by two-bays, with matching fenestration. The left bay has a large ground-floor three-light window with wooden pilaster mullions, above is a pair of first-floor windows and a pair of second-floor arched windows. This is duplicated in the right two-bays, with two ground-floor windows and two pairs of windows to the floors above.

To the right (south) is a further three-bay minor front, with a single-bay flanked by projecting entrance bays. The projecting bays have stepped independent side entrances, with a flat arched moulded keystone door surround and a segmental pedimented porch supported on curved brackets. Above the entrances are single casement first-floor windows with projecting pseudo-balustrades, with a stone mullion overlight to the left entrance bay. The second floor has a keystoned oeil-de-boeuf window to the left entrance bay and moulded ashlar window with string band running through the sill to the right. In the centre is a recessed three-window bay, with a ground-floor three-light window with wooden pilaster mullions, and three separated windows on the first and second floor with extended blind and projecting balustrades with pedestals.

The return (north) elevation, to Silver Street, has a projecting two-storey four-bay contemporary extension attached to the main three-storey three-bay north elevation. It matches the ground and first-floor features of the three-storey block, but with plain square pilasters marking each upper-floor bay. Its north-west corner is bowed with square moulded pilasters rising through the elevation to a blocked parapet with ball finialled pedestals and a central sculpted cartouche flanked by volutes. The ground floor has square moulded pilasters with Ionic capitals with a central bowed and keystone round-arched window, with decorated string bands running through the window imposts. The spandrels are enriched with the carved arms of Hull and York. The floor above has three moulded ashlar window surrounds, with shared ashlar mullions, rising from a pseudo-parapet flanked by half ball finialled pedestals. To the left (east) is the three-bay north elevation, with a balustraded parapet running east from the blocked north-west parapet. The ground floor has three tall windows, the eastern pair projecting forward as a bay, and an eastern entrance porch with a moulded and keystone round-arch doorway with enriched spandrels. It contains a partly-glazed round-headed double door, with wrought-iron overlight with grille. The first floor has single window casements to the outer bays and a paired window casement to the central bay.

The rear east and south elevations were not inspected. Aerial photographs show the three-storey range and trapezoidal building contain one-over-one sashes. The single-storey extensions have square or rectangular pyramidal roof lanterns.

INTERIOR: the well-preserved contemporary ground-floor banking hall has a panelled and dentilled plaster cross-beam ceiling concealing concrete beams, which are carried on cast-iron Doric columns and engaged square pilasters with ornamental scroll brackets. The eastern ceiling panels have three large square roof lights. The hall has a panelled dado rail and panelled wooden splays and soffits to the windows. Private north rooms facing Silver Street are separated from the banking hall by a mahogany framed and glazed wooden screen with decorative fluted pilasters between etched glazed panels and top-lights. Four-panelled doors with etched glass panels all have moulded swan-neck architraves complete with brass fittings and classical ornamentation; one retains a manager's door plaque. In the south wall is a two-leaf door leading to a stone staircase and external west door.

Previously listed as: 1 AND 3 TRINITY HOUSE LANE, FORMER BARCLAYS BANK; 1 AND 3, FORMER BANK; TRINITY HOUSE LANE, 1 AND 3 BARCLAYS BANK; SILVER STREET, BARCLAYS BANK.

History

The Union Bank of York (established 1833), built around 1895, was designed by William Warlow Gwyther of London (1829/1830-1903). The contractors were F Blackburn and Son of Peel Street, Hull, and the clerk of works Mr E Grimes. William Warlow Gwyther undertook prestigious commissions for a range of banks, including Williams Deacon Bank, Yorkshire Bank, Bank of Scotland and the National Provincial Bank.

The Union Bank was built to replace 'Pease's Old Bank' (drawn by Frederick Schultz Smith on the site in 1889) following the merger of Peases, Hoare and Pease with the York Union Bank on 1 January 1894. Pease's Bank (established in 1754 as Pease of Hull) was one of the first banks founded in Yorkshire and one of the largest banks in the 1890s, with its merger seen as a financial coup. The Union Bank was opened by 1896.

The bank was constructed as an extensive wrought iron and concrete frame building, with concrete floors supported on cast-iron columns. The banking hall was accessed directly from the elaborate main (west) porch by two-leaf doors. A decorated timber and glazed screen ran across the north half of the banking hall to create managerial and private rooms, with windows overlooking Silver Street, whilst to the south fireproof doors led to lavatories, cloakroom and two strong rooms fitted with Chubb and company safes. Separate access was provided to the ground and upper floors by a porch in the north elevation and two doors in the west elevation. The upper floors held offices, further safes, and a boardroom and residence for two workers and a caretaker facing Silver Street.

In 1902 the Union Bank merged with Barclay and Company (named Barclays Bank by 1917), and the building was known as Barclay's Bank Chambers. It remained in use as a bank until around 1997 before conversion to a public house, with offices and staff accommodation on the first and second floors.

Reasons for Listing

The former Union Bank of York, 1 and 3 Trinity House Lane, of around 1895 and designed by William Warlow Gwyther of London, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* designed in a confident, classical style using high-quality ashlar stone and granite, and employing carved detailing to present an impressive outward appearance that embodies status, reliability and security;
* the interior retains a well-preserved banking hall and good-quality fixtures and fittings, including a mahogany framed and glazed screen separating the public and private spaces, four-panelled and part-glazed doors, moulded architraves and stone staircase;
* the bank is a key building on Trinity House Lane and stands in a prominent corner position where it has strong group value due to close proximity with a number of other listed corner buildings, including the Grade II*-listed former National Provincial Bank, which visually enhance and impart character to the historic streetscape of this part of Hull Old Town.

Historic interest:

* the bank was designed by the well-regarded architect William Warlow Gwyther who specialised in designs for various banking companies, including the listed former bank for the Yorkshire District Banking Company in Leeds and the Royal Bank of Scotland in Southport.

External Links

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