Description

TQ 3180 NW
627-0/13/10107

TEMPLE AVENUE, EC4
Nos. 8-10 (even) (former Argus Printing Company)

II

Former Headquarters of the Argus Printing Company. Designed by Charles Valentine Hunter and built between 1896 and 1897. Foundations by Messrs Greenwood and the superstructure was built by Patman and Fotheringham. Portland stone, brick and Ruabon terracotta dressing. Carved stone frieze.

Four storeys over basement. Six-window range to Temple Avenue and eleven-window range to Tudor Street. Commercial style blending features from the Romanesque and Tudor periods. Rusticated stone to ground floor with round-arched and elliptical-arched openings. Basket-arched openings to the first floor. Carved sill band to second floor and entablature with dentil cornice to the third floor. All second and third floor windows are flat arched with mullions and transoms. Balustrade parapet to roof. A carved shield bourne by a winged Argus adorns the corner at street level. The last bay on the Temple Street elevation permits vehicles to come and go with deliveries.

The Argus Printing Company was founded in 1884 by Harry Marks and was responsible for printing the Financial Times. The building was one of a clutch of purpose-built printing offices in this area south of Fleet Street. These structures were put up following the 1870s, their construction encouraged by the City Corporation as part of a programme of general street improvements. Others of note include: Carmelite House, 1897-9, by Herbert 0. Ellis (q.v.) and Temple House, next to the Argus works, and erected in 1893 to the designs of Frederick Boreham (q.v.).

Listing NGR: TQ3141180965

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q27086033

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

• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper
• 
  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)