Former National Westminster Bank

Summary

Former National Provincial Bank, built around 1907, by Dunn and Watson of London.

Reasons for Designation

The former National Provincial Bank, 19-20 Silver Street, built around 1907 by Dunn and Watson of London, is listed at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* to a design by notable architects Dunn and Watson (with Curtis Green), with impressive principal elevations onto both Land of Green Ginger and Silver Street;
* as a building constructed of high-quality materials, with elaborate sculptural embellishments and distinguished styling.

Group value:

* as one of the principal early-C20 buildings on Silver Street, Whitefriargate, and Land of Green Ginger, standing in close proximity to a range of listed buildings that together combine to impart the historical character of this part of Hull Old Town.

History

The Edwardian bank was built around 1907 for the National Provincial Bank to the designs of Dunn and Watson of London, with the possible involvement of (William) Curtis Green, and it is first shown on the second edition 1:2500 OS 1910 (revised 1906-1908) map.

William Dunn (1859-1934) and Robert Watson (1854-1916) were both apprenticed to James Marjoribanks MacLaren (1853-1890) and formed the architectural practice Dunn and Watson of London (1890-1912) upon the death of Maclaren when a partnership agreement was made with Sir Donald Currie for the establishment of a practice to support Maclaren’s widow and children. The Building News described them as among the ‘leading English architects’ by 1897 and they designed a variety of buildings in England and Scotland, funded through their professional connection with Sir Donald Currie, which included remodelling the choir of Dunkeld Cathedral (Perth and Kinross), Glenlyon House (Perth and Kinross Historic Scotland Listed Building 12266), amongst others, and incidentally the main saloon and fittings for Sir Donald Currie’s steam yacht ‘Iolaire’. The practice became Dunn, Watson and Curtis Green in 1910 when (William) Curtis Green, a nationally important architect, (1875-1960) formally joined the partnership and they designed a range of buildings, including the Scottish Provident Institution Building, 1-6 Lombard Street, London (National Heritage List for England (NHLE) entry 1286139) and 17 High Street, Bath (NHLE entry 1396016). This building bears striking similarities with 1-6 Lombard Street, London (NHLE entry 1286139, built 1905-1908 and modified in 1915), designed by Dunn and Watson with Curtis Green for the Scottish Provident Bank, with a matching elaborately bracketed and moulded cornice interspersed with lion masks. William Dunn was an early advocate and leading specialist of reinforced concrete (known for his flair for concrete designs) and Watson for architectural decoration. The nationally prominent William Curtis Green went on to establish the firm Curtis Green, Son and Lloyd.

During the inter-war period, the bank became the National Provincial and Union Bank of England, following its merger with the London and Smith’s Bank, and it is shown on the 1955 Goad Insurance Plan for Hull with its concrete frame and floors, with stone stairs to Silver Street, and the two-storey extension extending north with two hemispherical domes. It was internally connected on the north side to an interwar building (erected around 1934) by the mid-C20. In 1968 The National Provincial Bank merged with Westminster Bank and was re-named the National Westminster Bank (NatWest) by 1970. By March 2000 The Royal Bank of Scotland Group acquired NatWest (the largest take-over in British banking history) and it remained in use as a NatWest bank until 2007 with the Royal Bank of Scotland vacating around 2013. In 2014 the building was converted into a restaurant and drinking establishment and, later, part of the ground floor, a mezzanine, part of the first floor and full second floor was adapted as a 17-bedroom hotel.

Details

DETAILS: former Bank, around 1907, by Dunn and Watson of London. Baroque Revival style.

MATERIALS: Portland stone, granite, Westmorland green slate, with a concrete frame and floors.

PLAN: an L-shaped building situated on a corner site with an angled south-west blind corner, with a two-storey flat-roof polygonal extension extending north from the rear.

EXTERIOR: the L-shape three-storey building is situated on the corner of Silver Street and Land of Green Ginger, with an angled south-west blind corner. It is a concrete-framed building of Portland stone, with a granite moulded plinth. The ground floor is of banded and pulvinated rusticated stone, with a dentilated and moulded cornice. The upper floors have plain giant pilasters rising to a dentilated and sculpted frieze and an elaborately bracketed and moulded cornice, which is ornamented with eight lion masks. The pitched Westmorland green slate roof has a low stone parapet and seven finely detailed chimney stacks: the four street-facing chimneys are ashlar, with pilasters supporting sculpted lion heads, moulded coping and shaped chimney pots. The rear three chimneys of white faience brick. Behind is a two-storey flat-roofed banking hall with two large hemispherical domes and conical roof lanterns to the north.

The near-symmetrical front (south) elevation, to Silver Street, is of seven bays. The ground floor has a central elaborately keystoned round-arched main banking entrance. It contains a metal fish-scale grilled overlight set over a wooden door with a moulded cornice and decorated architrave. The architrave has a carved laurel leaf pattern stopped by floral square stops and retains a two-leaf glazed and panelled door ornamented with dentillated borders. To the left (west) of the main door are three windows and to the right (east) are two windows and a two-stepped independent doorway. All have pulvinated voussoir lintels with a central projecting square stop ornamented with a Celtic knot boss. The windows all have six-over-nine sash windows and the independent doorway (east) contains a sculpted blind rectangular over-light with similar, but simpler, decoration to the central entrance and a glazed and panelled two-leaf door. The door gives access to a gated alleyway called 'Todd's Entry', which leads to the back of Victoria Chambers. On either side of the main banking entrance heavy scrolled and ornamented brackets support the moulded and dentillated cornice and a projecting first-floor balustraded window balcony, which has a moulded handrail. The first floor has seven large flat lintel windows, with projecting keystones, all with a segmental hood supported on ornate brackets. The windows all contain six-over-six sashes. On the second floor, there are seven three-over-six sashes with moulded and shouldered window surrounds and decorated sills.

The west return, facing Land of Green Ginger, is of six bays and similar, but without the central doorway, and balcony, and with a single plain bay to the north which has a three-stepped side-door with simple moulded surround and plain window surrounds to upper floors. The rear elevations have not been inspected.

INTERIOR: the main public entrance lobby retains a First World War bronze memorial plaque as a tribute to the 2681 members of banking staff who served and the 415 who gave their lives in service. It leads into a well-preserved contemporary banking hall, with pilasters and square panelled and dentillated columns supporting ornate plasterwork beams. Between the supporting beams, the ceiling is decorated with honeycomb moulding. The banking hall extends into the two-storey extension to the rear and has two hemispherical domes of different sizes. A central square opening between supporting beams supports the larger dome on pendentives, which is decorated with plaster ribbing with a foliage scroll frieze, and a wooden dome frame with gradually diminishing trapezoid glazing. The banking hall and adjacent former office rooms have plaster panelling to the walls with polished pine panelled wainscot. There are also a variety of fixtures and fittings in place, including polished pine panelled doors with moulded architraves (some with brass plaques) and wooden window architraves with shaped curtain boxes. At least one Edwardian wrought iron staircase with wooden handrail is retained. On the first floor, coving remains in place above suspended ceilings, mainly to former offices, with some pitcher rails in situ.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

387787

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Cusack, P, Architects and the Reinforced Concrete Specialist in Britain 1905-08 in Architectural History, Vol. 29, (1986), 183-196
Pevsner, N, Neave, D, The Buildings of England. Yorkshire: York and the East Riding, (2002), 537

Other
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Currie, Sir Donald (1825-1909)
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Green, William Curtis (1875-1960)
Hull City Records Office Map: OBLM/3155
Hull History Centre C DBHT/12/3/13 Layout Plans elevations etc. of National Provincial Bank No 19 Silver Street, dated June and July 1907 by W. Dunn and R. Watson architects, 35 Lincoln Inn Fields, London

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