History

1908-9 bank and offices, probably by R L Roberts.

Exterior

Red brick and Bath stone dressings, slate roofs and brick stacks, loosely Edwardian Baroque style. Three storeyed and attic with two facades hinged on a curved domed corner. Two bays to Quay Street, two and a half to Wind Street, the Wind Street facade more elaborate. Pained stucco ground floor, red brick upper floors with ashlar window, piers between the bays, and flush band over first floor. Ashlar dentil cornice over second floor, interrupted by small curved pediments over each wall pier, and continued in painted wood as eaves cornice in second bays of each facade. Attic feature at the corner with squat leaded octagonal dome between two gables of equal height to dome finial. Dome rises from curved red brick parapet, leaded octagonal drum, the sides concave as inswept from parapet, timber cornice under dome proper and knob finial. Coped gables with concave abutments answering to the drum of dome and big tripartite lunettes with sills at parapet height, ashlar moulded architraves and three sunburst keystones, the outer keystones reaching diagonally to the gable coping. Next bay each facade has a flat small-paned dormer, Wind Street front also has a terminal attic feature, smaller, semicircular, raised on ashlar piers, with keyed roundel light.

Main floors have mixed fenestration, corner bay and narrow outer bay of Wind Street front have Georgian Style 12-pane sashes in moulded ashlar architraves with keystones and apron panels. Two bays to Wind Street and two to Quay Street have big 3-light mullioned windows with keystones, the centre light arch-headed, the outer ones with top-lights. Wind Street windows are all in ashlar with C20 glazing, Quay Street has timber C20 version, probably replacing a timber original, in ashlar frames with keystones.

Ground floor is channelled painted stucco with raised piers, fascia and cornice. Semicircular pediments over piers. Arched openings and keystones, C20 plate glass, two windows in each of the larger bays, one in Wind Street end bay and arched door in ovolo-moulded surround to corner. Door has exuberant festooned keystone. Windows have aprons below and all ground floor openings are linked by string at roughly impost level that is carried down jambs of openings as a partial architrave.

Reasons for Listing

Included as a good example of Edwardian bank architecture, and architecturally the most important element of the town centre.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29492634

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

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  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]