Former Barclays Bank

Summary

Former bank, c.1913, attributed to Leslie Thomas Moore.

Reasons for Designation

The former Barclays Bank at 180 High Road, Ilford, a building of c.1913 attributed to Leslie Thomas Moore, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reason:
* Architectural quality: an exceptionally handsome Edwardian corner bank, of refined neoclassical design with excellent original metalwork.

History

Ilford grew slowly during the first three-quarters of the C19, from a large village of 2,000 residents in 1801 to a small town of 7,600 in 1881. Thereafter its expansion was rapid, as new estates were built over the surrounding farmland and the town was gradually absorbed into the outer suburbs of London, its population rising to 78,000 by 1911. In the 1860s the High Road, on the old Roman route from London to Colchester, was largely undeveloped east of what is now Chadwick Road, but the subsequent laying-out of the Ilford Lodge and Clements estates brought terraced villas, and after the turn of the century these were replaced by commercial properties. One of these was No. 180, a bank of c.1913 attributed to the architect LT Moore. Early photographs show the building set back behind a small front garden with railings and ornamental trees, reflecting the villa plot on which it was built, but these have long since disappeared.
Leslie Thomas Moore (1883-1957) was born in Norwich and trained under Sir RW Edis before joining the London office of Sir John Simpson. In 1915 he married the daughter of the leading church architect Temple Lushington Moore (no relation); from 1919 he was in partnership with his father-in-law, and continued the practice after the latter's death the following year. Apart from church work, the majority of his designs were for houses and hospitals, making the present building - if it is indeed by him - something of an anomaly.

Details

MATERIALS: Portland stone over stock brick.

PLAN: a three-storey building on a corner site, with the former banking hall at ground level and offices on the floors above.

EXTERIOR: externally the bank appears as a pedimented box in chaste Classical style, a small palazzo with overtones of a Grecian temple. It has three storeys of progressively decreasing height, divided by plat bands. The front elevation to the High Road is of three narrow bays. The double-height ground floor has two Doric half-columns in antis, recessed between which are two tiers of windows in embossed metal surrounds, the lower ones round-headed and surmounted by a miniature Doric frieze inscribed B-A-N-K. The first-floor windows are six-over-nine timber sashes with simple moulded cornices and aprons. The upper floor has tripartite windows alternating with blank raised panels. Above is a triangular pediment; the roof behind is flat, its plain stone parapet just visible on either side. The west elevation to Clements Road is similar, but with broader bays and without the half-columns and pediment.

To the rear are two extensions: a three-storey neo-Regency one of mid-C20 date, and a single-storey red-brick block of c.1980; these elements are not of special interest and are excluded from the listing.

INTERIORS: the ground-floor banking hall has been completely stripped out, and no features of interest survive. The office floors above are less altered, and retain simple timber skirtings, doors, stair etc. On the first floor is a built-in cupboard with intersecting 'Gothick' glazing bars.

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Cherry, B, O'Brien, C, The Buildings of England: London 5 East, (2005), 348

Other
Timothy William Ellis, Leslie Thomas Moore (1883-1957): His Life, Influences, Ecclesiastical Architecture and Preservation Philosophy, 1997,
Historic photographs in Redbridge Local History Library,

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