Former Wakefield and Barnsley Union Bank and Bank Chambers, 57 and 59 Westgate

Summary

Former bank, 1877-1878, by Henry Francis Lockwood of Lockwood and Mawson Architects for the Wakefield and Barnsley Union Ban, grand neoclassical style. Converted into a public house with offices on the upper floors in the late C20.

Reasons for Designation

The former Wakefield and Barnsley Union Bank, 57 and 59 Westgate Wakefield, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* for its imposing neoclassical design, being one of the most impressive commercial buildings in Wakefield built in the second half of the C19;
* for the high quality of the materials and craftsmanship, particularly displayed by the carved decoration to the principal elevation.

Historic interest:

* as a characteristic example of the work of the notable architect Henry Francis Lockwood who designed numerous listed buildings nationally, including Sir Titus Salt’s pioneering mill town Saltaire in partnership with William Mawson, now a World Heritage Site.

Group value:

* with the other grand buildings of Upper Westgate, especially with 65 Westgate, the Wakefield and Barnsley Union Bank’s previous premises built nearly a century earlier.

History

Westgate was one of Wakefield’s four principal streets that developed in the medieval period with long narrow burgage plots extending back from the street frontage. During the C17 and C18, it became a popular residential district for the mercantile classes, with large townhouses fronting onto Westgate, with further, often commercial and industrial buildings extending to the rear. The commercial use of Upper Westgate intensified in the C19, especially after the coming of the railway in 1857 and the opening of the new Westgate station in 1867, all prompting the construction of new imposing commercial buildings. One of the grandest was 57 and 59 Westgate, built 1877 for the Wakefield and Barnsley Union Bank, incorporating a suite of offices, known as Bank Chambers, on the upper floors. It was designed by Henry Francis Lockwood (1811-1878) the senior partner of the architectural practice Lockwood and Mawson, the architects of most of the major mid-C19 buildings of Bradford such as St George’s Hall as well as Saltaire, Titus Salt’s pioneering mill town.

The Wakefield and Barnsley Union Bank opened its new premises at 57 and 59 Westgate on 1 July 1878. Prior to this it had operated from 65 Westgate which had been built for Wakefield’s first bank, Ingram and Kennet, in 1785. The Union Bank had been founded as the Wakefield Bank in 1832 and had taken over a banking business in Barnsley in 1840; the bank eventually developing a network of at least nine branches. In 1906 it was amalgamated with the Birmingham, District and Counties Bank, this becoming the United Counties Bank before merger with Barclays in 1916.

In 1923 the banking premises became the Wakefield Building Society; the separate offices on upper floors continuing to be used by other businesses, including a solicitors’ office and a civil engineering firm in 1927. In 1976 the building society was taken over by the Halifax Building Society, prompting the sale of the building and its conversion into a public house.

Details

Former bank, 1877-1878, by Henry Francis Lockwood of Lockwood and Mawson Architects for the Wakefield and Barnsley Union Ban, grand neoclassical style. Converted into a public house with offices on the upper floors in the late C20.

MATERIALS: ashlar sandstone to the principal elevation, red brick to the rear. Slate roofing.

PLAN: the public entrance to the former banking hall is central to the Westgate elevation, with rear entrances off the passage through the eastern-most bay connecting to Albion Court to the rear. The western-most bay has the entrance to the offices on the upper floors.

EXTERIOR: Westgate (north) elevation: this grand neoclassical frontage is of seven bays and three storeys, surmounted by a tall parapet that hides the roof. The central three bays break forward slightly, being defined by engaged Corinthian columns that span the upper two floors, the elevation as a whole being framed by pilasters of rusticated blocks that alternate between being vermiculated and plain-faced.

The ground floor has a tall plinth of panels with a moulded skirting and cornice. Above, the ashlar stonework is horizontally banded, being deeply rusticated, alternate bands being vermiculated up to a relatively plain entablature with a deep modillioned cornice supporting the first floor. The central bay is framed by ornately carved pilasters with giant consoles supporting an enriched entablature and a segmental pediment featuring the monogram of the Wakefield and Barnsley Union Bank. Set within this bay is the main entrance, this having a tall, double-leafed, panelled and bossed door with a rectangular overlight, the opening having vermiculated voussoirs with a keystone featuring a carved head. This head is thought to be a likeness of William Stewart, the bank’s chairman in 1878. The openings to the other ground floor bays are similar, but these carved heads appear to be depictions of various Greek gods. The far western bay has a similar panelled and bossed door with an overlight, but is set in a simpler surround, the far eastern bay is a carriage entrance to Albion Court to the rear. The other four bays have large one-over-one plate glass sash windows.

The first-floor has a sill band that imitates a balustraded parapet with squared vase balusters set beneath the window openings. The windows are plate glass sashes and are framed by pilasters with sunk panels and large consoles supporting Greek key friezes and triangular pediments with enriched tympanum.

The second-floor sash windows are shorter and are set in moulded architraves that are headed by pulvinated friezes and segmental pediments. Above, the building has a plain frieze finished with a dentilated string course with a modillion cornice above, the modillions being richly carved. The tall parapet above is panelled and features carved rosettes. To the centre there is a round pediment with rich carving framing a Roman-numeralled clock.

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 29 January 2024 to correct a typo in the name and address

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

445852

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Websites
Local History Research by Linda Smith, Wakefield Historical Society, accessed 20 November 2023 from https://www.wakefieldhistoricalsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/57-59-The-Union-Bank.pdf

End of official list entry