Survey Data
Reg No
21829010
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Social
Original Use
Post office
Historical Use
Bank/financial institution
In Use As
Surgery/clinic
Date
1900 - 1920
Coordinates
124985, 151678
Date Recorded
24/08/2008
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached H-plan seven-bay two-storey former post office and bank, built c. 1910, having recent extensions to rear (north) elevation. Hipped slate roof with rendered chimneystacks, overhanging eaves and timber brackets. Roughcast rendered walls to first floor having rusticated limestone quoins. Rusticated coursed limestone walls to ground floor with rusticated plinth course. Bipartite square-headed openings to projecting end-bays, first floor having rusticated limestone block-and-start surrounds, mullions, sills and four-over-four pane timber sliding sash windows. Tripartite square-headed openings to centre-bay, first floor and projecting end-bays, ground floor with rusticated limestone block-and-start surrounds, mullions, sills and four-over-four pane timber sliding sash windows. Quadripartite square-headed openings to centre-bay, ground floor having rusticated limestone block-and-start surrounds, mullions, sills and four-over-four pane timber sliding sash windows. Round-headed opening to centre-bay with rusticated limestone surround and inset square-headed multiple-pane fixed window and square-headed opening having multi pane overlight over timber panelled door. Square-headed openings to projecting end-bays with multiple-pane overlights over timber panelled doors.
Appraisal
Designed by William Clifford Smith, this building is a particularly attractive example of early twentieth-century Arts and Crafts style architecture, of which the projecting bays and overhanging eaves are characteristic features. Its form as well as its size and scale, mark it out in the streetscape. The long rectangular H-plan form is emphasised by the overhanging eaves and tripartite and quadripartite windows, which underscore the horizontal planes. The rusticated limestone walls to the ground floor contrast with the rendered upper floor and interest to the façade.