Hepworth's Arcade

Summary

Shopping arcade, of 1894, by Gelder and Kitchen, with mid- and late-C20 alterations.

Reasons for Designation

Hepworth's Arcade, 1894 by Gelder and Kitchen for Joseph Hepworth, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as an elaborate L-shaped grand arcade on one of the principal shopping streets in Hull;

* for its well preserved, finely detailed and good-quality decorative scheme and Victorian shopfronts.

Historic interest:

* as a design by Alfred Gelder, who was an illustrious and passionate champion of the city of Hull and who undertook ambitious re-ordering and civic building in the city centre in the late C19 and early C20;

* as a building type that represents the national success of Hepworth's as one of the largest clothing manufacturers and retailers in the country at the time.

Group value:

* it has strong group value with a range of listed buildings on Market Place, Silver Street and Whitefriargate, which together combine to impart the historical character of this part of Hull Old Town.

History

Hepworth's Arcade, built in 1894, was designed by Gelder and Kitchen for Joseph Hepworth (1834-1911), a nationally recognised Leeds clothing manufacturer and retailer, and leading member of the Methodist New Connexion.

Plots along Market Place and Silver Street were purchased in the 1880s and the arcade was designed to create a covered thoroughfare containing multiple business alongside Hepworth's tailors. At the time of the arcade's construction Joseph Hepworth & Son employed 2,000 operatives who produced garments for the company’s 107 retail outlets and for the South African and Australian export markets where Hepworth’s subsidiary plants were located.

The architectural practice of Gelder & Kitchen was founded by (William) Alfred Gelder (1855-1941), architect and politician, and Llewellyn Kitchen (1869 or 1870-1948) in the 1890s. Llewellyn Kitchen had been Alfred Gelder’s chief assistant from around 1892. Alfred Gelder of Hull went on to become a celebrated Victorian architect in the city with a large and successful architectural practice built on the connections and friendships made through Methodism. In addition to being an architect Gelder was a local councillor and town planner who made street improvement and slum clearance his particular concern. In 1898, after Hull attained city status in 1897, he was elected mayor, and then re-elected for a record four more terms in succession allowing him to undertake an ambitious re-ordering and civic building programme in the city centre. His work led to the creation of City Hall, Queen Victoria Square, King Edward Street (from which the new Jameson Street ran west towards Paragon Station) and a wide new road named Alfred Gelder Street, which cut through the maze of yards and slum housing in the north part of the Old Town around Whitefriargate. He was knighted in 1903 in recognition of these improvements and he later stood as a Liberal MP before losing his seat and returning to prioritise working on the future of Hull. Amongst his later schemes was the infilling of the redundant Queen’s Dock to create a ‘beautiful boulevard’, which was completed in 1935.

Hepworth's Arcade was restored in 1995 and 2002, with adaptations made to the shopfront signage and glazing in the early C21.

Details

Shopping arcade, of 1894, by Gelder and Kitchen, with mid- and late-C20 alterations. Flemish Renaissance style.

(Formerly listed as: SILVER STREET (South side) Nos.8 AND 9 and Hepworth's Arcade) (Formerly listed as: MARKET PLACE (West side) Nos.60 AND 61, 2-22 (even) and 1-17 (odd) Hepworth's Arcade) (Formerly listed as: HEPWORTHS ARCADE Nos.2-22 (even) AND 1-17 (odd))

MATERIALS: brick, ashlar, slate, glass, iron and steel.

PLAN: an L-plan shopping arcade (from Silver Street to Market Place), terminated with street-frontage buildings.

EXTERIOR: the building occupies a prominent site between Market Place (east) and Silver Street (north), with elevations onto both streets. Each elevation is of three storeys, plus an attic and basement, and built in brick with a dressed ashlar front. To their rear is an L-shaped iron and glass barrel-vaulted arcade roof joined at the junction by an octagonal glazed dome topped with a small glazed cupola. A row of pitched slate shop roofs are attached either side of the arcade roof.

The Market Place (east) elevation is of four-bays and has an off-centre arcade entrance with a wide shopfront to the north and much narrower shopfront to the south, both with recessed entrance doors. The late-C19 shopfronts and arcade entrances are flanked by wooden pilasters; those flanking the arcade entrance are panelled and the outer pilasters are fluted and panelled with ionic capitals, all of which are terminated by substantial moulded brackets supporting a deep entablature and moulded and dentillated cornice. The arcade entrance has a moulded and keyed cast-iron segmental arch with sliding lattice gates containing a spoked fanlight, with foliated interlacing stem spandrels and a soffit decorated with acanthus leaf mouldings. Rising above the ground-floor is a central pair of two-storey oriel windows with rounded corners and a foliated stone string band between them, which contain mullion and transom lights. The first-floor oriels have elaborate swan neck pediments decorated with orange fruit swag drops and a moulded entablature and cornice with swagged panels. Each window has a keyed round-headed light set between the upper transoms, and decorative strapwork panels to the sill band. The second-floor oriels have a simple moulded entablature and a cornice decorated with a stylised shell. The outer bays have keyed round-headed windows with rusticated voussoirs and to the second floor are segmental-headed windows in a similar style, all containing plate-glass horned sashes. The bays on these first and second floors are separated by panelled pilasters with Corinthian imposts. At attic level are two central dormer windows flanked by balustrading with pedestals and finials to each outer bay. Each dormer has a pair of six-over-one sash windows set within moulded and keyed surrounds, with an ornate swan-necked pediment above. Behind, and concealed from view, is a pitched slate roof and two brick ridge end stacks.

The Silver Street elevation (north) is of seven-bays with similar detailing to the Market Place elevation, but some variation. On the ground floor there is a central arcade archway flanked by two symmetrical late-C20 shopfronts. Above is a single central two-storey oriel window topped by a swan-neck pediment with a garland swag and dentilled cornice. The three outer bays to each side have keyed round-headed windows to the first-floor and segmental-headed windows to the second-floor with rusticated voussoirs. The windows are separated by marble half-shafts, with Corinthian capitals, and contain horned plate-glass sashes. The attic has a single central pedimented dormer with finials and has lost some decorative panelwork to the pediment. It conceals a pitched roof with two end corner stacks to the rear.

INTERIOR: the two-storey L-shaped arcade runs north to south then east, connecting Silver Street to Market Place. It is covered by an iron and glass barrel-vaulted roof, with decorated and pierced transverse cast-iron arches meeting at a central glazed octagon. Along both sides of the arcade are fine arcade shopfronts, some shops are now combined, with cast-iron arcade lighting. The ground-floor shopfronts incorporate pilasters with a painted marble effect, pulvinated base and moulded capital topped by a fluted console decorated with a painted garland swag, and a continuous moulded cornice above. The shop windows have large glazed panes with toplights and a decorative ventilation band, whilst the entrance doors have a decorative architrave and toplight with a two-panel door (the upper panel glazed) and original brass door fittings. One blind shop bay (number 21) in the eastern arcade has an advertisement for J Hepworth & Sons with the words: J. HEPWORTH & SON / LIMITED / ARE THE GREAT XL / TAILORS & CLOTHIERS. The first floor is separated into bays by plain pilasters with foliated capitals, with a blind parapet with pedestals beneath and a moulded cornice above. Within each bay are a pair of outer fluted pilasters and an alternating pair of inner fluted pilasters or engaged columns with acanthus leaf torus (all with a painted marble effect). They support an entablature with fluted triglyphs above each pilaster and floral frieze panels. The majority of the bays have timber two-light windows between columns or pilasters, arranged in groups of three. At the intersection of the arcade arms the ground floor has a bowed south-west shopfront with a doorway either side (one west, another south) leading to the covered Trinity Market. They have rusticated round-headed doorways supported on fluted pilasters, with a glazed overlight and panelled architrave. The octagonal dome has a first-floor balustraded parapet to the west and south, the south-west corner is bowed. The first-floor balcony contains wooden panelled doors with toplights, and a continuous floral frieze.

The north and east ends of the arcade have a wide pedestrian entrance running through the buildings facing Silver Street and Market Place. The inner wall has a keystone four-centred arch with panelled spandrels and jambs. On the first-floor is a blind parapet, with pedestals, and raised green lettering: HEPWORTH'S ARCADE. Above are four wooden glazed windows and a garlanded and foliated frieze set below a sunburst and panelled barrel-vault end.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

387679

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
G, Hardy, Hepworth's Arcade: one hundred years of trading, (1996)

Other
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Gelder, Sir (William) Alfred (1855-1941)
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Hepworth, Joseph (1834-1911)

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