History

Built in 1891as the Denbigh Constitutional Club and designed by R Lloyd Williams, architect of Denbigh; the contractor was J Simon Roberts of Plough Inn, Denbigh. The club was built by share-holders (including Lloyd Williams himself, formerly the club's secretary), and was opened in March 1892, alas not by Mr A J Balfour, as had been planned. The original design included a billiards room facing the High Street and incorporated three let shops below (facing Portland Place).

Exterior

Two-and-a-half storey building of irregular triangular plan in simple municipal Gothic style. Of red brick construction with terracotta detailing and built on a snecked, quarry-faced stone plinth at the narrow (E) end; medium-pitched slate roof with tiled ridges and hipped ends. Asymmetrical S elevation, following the gentle upward incline of Highgate. This has a large pointed-arched entrance with stopped and moulded label and a recessed entrance; plain panelled doors and overlight. Above this is a pointed-arched moulded niche with ogee moulded label terminating in a foliated finial. Within the niche is a foliate relief carving with the date 1891. A gabled lateral chimney, which rises above this, has lost its stack. To the R of this are 2 narrow ground-floor windows with shouldered arches and chamfered jambs. Projecting outwards above these windows is a shallow oriel with 3 similar, squat windows. This projection is carried on 3 decorative corbels with segmentally-arched spans; dentilated cornice with surmounting crenellated parapet.

To the L of the entrance is a pair of small windows with tall paired windows above; plain sashes throughout. Beyond this is a shouldered arched entrance with boarded door and further pairs of sashes to both floors. At the far L is a similar entrance with large segmental basement light to the R and 2 tall, shouldered-arched windows above. This left-hand section has a dentilated cornice and a central staged chimney with chamfered ends and moulded upper courses. The narrow east-facing end is gabled and has a parapet with terracotta capping, returned around onto the sides and sloped up on the Highgate side (S). The stone plinth section has a rounded projection which advances in front of the gable end and has surmounting decorative railings. This has 3 rectangular windows with stopped-chamfered jambs. The principal, raised ground floor has a shouldered-arched entrance with three-quarter glazed doors and leaded overlight. Above this is a chamfered rectangular niche with modern sign within; a moulded stringcourse rises up above this and returns onto both side elevations, terminating at the oriel projection on the S side; paired, shouldered sashes above with blind trefoil in the gable apex.

The Portland Place elevation has 3 simple modernised shop fronts to the ground floor, stepping down sequentially with the downward incline of the road on this side. These have a series of moulded brackets which carry a modernised fascia with moulded and dentilated cornice above. The first floor has two groups of 3 vertical shouldered-arched windows with sashes and leaded upper lights; projecting sills. To the R of these is a further pair of similar windows to a flush end bay with stepped-down eaves line. Bracketed cornice decoration above a terracotta frieze with 'Constitutional Club' in raised letters. The roof has 2 pairs of modern hipped dormers, with plain wooden casement glazing.

Interior

The interior was not inspected at the time of survey.

Reasons for Listing

Listed for its special interest as a robustly-detailed late Victorian building in the expressive Gothic idiom favoured for municipal architecture, showing a good use of materials and providing an imaginative response to the demands of a restricted urban site.

Group value with other listed items in Portland Place.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29500736

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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