Lloyds Bank

Summary

Lloyds Bank, 1932 by Buckland and Haywood.

Reasons for Designation

Lloyds Bank, built 1932 by Buckland and Haywood, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as an accomplished design in the Beaux Arts style, with imposing external facades and good detailing;
* for the quality of the external sculptural work;
* for the quality of the main banking hall and surviving original features.

Historic interest:

* as a prominent building by the noted architectural practice, Buckland and Haywood;

Group value:

* with the adjacent NatWest Bank (Grade II).

History

Coventry in the first half of the C20 was one of the fastest growing cities in the United Kingdom, with its population having increased from 70,000 to 230,000 between 1901 and 1938. The surviving medieval plan of Coventry was such that the many narrow streets became increasingly congested with traffic and the city's infrastructure struggled to cope with the increasing pressures on it. The city's post-War redevelopment is well known, but a desire to re-plan the city had already taken root in the early 1930s and the City Engineer's Department under Ernest Ford had overseen the creation of two new streets: Corporation Street in 1931 and Trinity Street in 1937. Similarly, there was a desire to widen High Street and Earl Street. The new Council House was opened in 1920 and was set back to allow the widening of Earl Street, and it was intended that the widening should continue into High Street. When the National Provincial Bank (now NatWest) and Lloyds Bank were built on the south side of High Street in the early-1930s, these were sited on the intended building line, allowing for a wider street with a grander, more civic feel, as shown on the 4th Edition Ordnance Survey Map of 1937.

Lloyds Bank was built in 1932 by the Birmingham firm of Buckland and Haywood. HT Buckland and William Haywood had been in practice together since 1915 when Haywood had joined the practice then known as Buckland and Farmer. The firm had produced much earlier work in the Arts and Crafts style, as well as neo-Georgian. After Haywood joined the practice, its output included work in the Beaux Arts style, and it is possible that it is Haywood who was responsible for the design of Lloyds Bank.

Both Lloyds Bank and its neighbour the National Provincial Bank survived the bombing of Coventry during the Second World War, and both were retained in the post-War redevelopment of the city centre.

Details

Lloyds Bank, 1932 by Buckland and Haywood.

MATERIALS: the building is faced with Portland stone under a tile roof.

PLAN: the bank faces north onto High Street and is built to an L-plan, with the long wing stretching down Greyfriars Lane.

EXTERIOR: the building is designed in a Beaux Arts style and has a monumental entrance facing High Street. The main door is set within a tall arch which rises through two storeys and is set forward from the main building, with flanking rusticated sections and one bay to the left. Above these is a projecting dentilled cornice and a further storey above the cornice, with the roof rising above. The door itself is set within a moulded frame with the name 'LLOYDS BANK' carved in the frieze above the door. Above this is in the tympanum is a carved sculpture which shows the Lloyds horse in a central panel with the date '1677'. This is flanked by seated male figures; that to the left holds a key while the right hand figure holds a ship.

The elevation to Greyfriars Lane is of six principal bays, with arched windows to the ground floorl, lighting the banking hall within, and tripartite windows to the first floor. The bays are divided by full-height, fluted demi-columns with lotus capitals and above the cornice the upper storey has a row of sash windows. In the third bay from the right there is a second entrance in a projecting surround. Beyond the main block the building steps in and there are two ashlar bays, one with three storeys lighting the main stair within, and two further entrances at ground floor level.

INTERIOR: the main entrance opens into the double-height banking hall which occupies the full six bays of the main block. The ceiling, which is supported on deeply curved cornices which echo the arched windows, is divided into five rectangular sections. The outer and middle sections have large central squares with two smaller outer squares; these take the form of recessed panels cornicing around the edges. The other sections have six square panels. The fittings of the banking hall are otherwise modern.

Beyond the banking hall, the building has largely been refitted. The main stair is thought to be in its original location, but has later-C20 replacement handrails. There is a surviving original secondary stair to the rear of the building which rises through the lower storeys. This has metal handrails with Art Deco style detailing and solid newel posts.

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Pickford, C, The Buildings of England: Warwickshire , (2016), 260
Gould, J & C, Coventry, the making of a modern city 1939-73, (2016), 1-7

Other
Coventry Historic Environment Record ref. MCT 329

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