3 Market Place, Gainsborough

Summary

Bank, built in 1927 in a neo-Georgian style by FCR Palmer. Built from brick with stone dressings.

Reasons for Designation

3, Market Place, Gainsborough is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* As an excellent example of a neo-Georgian commercial structure;

* For its well-balanced design and proportions;

* For the quality of its classical detailing;

* For its well-preserved internal detailing, particularly to the banking hall.

Historic interest:
* For its association with noted architects FCR Palmer and WFC Holden:

* For its association with the National Provincial Bank.

Group value:
* The building has strong group value with other listed buildings in the vicinity.

History

3 Market Place, Gainsborough has been occupied by a bank since 1833. Initially it was the Gainsborough branch of the Lincoln and Lindsey Banking Co, which traded there until its merger with the London City and Midland Bank in 1913. Following the merger, the bank was acquired by the National Provincial Bank, who demolished the earlier building and replaced it with a new design in 1927.

The new building was designed by the National Provincial Bank’s architect, F C R Palmer. Frederick Charles Richard Palmer (1874 – 1934) was Architect and Surveyor to the General Post Office from 1908, and became the National Provincial Bank architect in 1920, a position he occupied until his death in 1934. The National Provincial Bank took on Walter Frederick Clarke Holden to assist Palmer in the early 1920s, and the two usually worked together.

Photographs of the newly constructed bank show that the banking hall was divided longitudinally by a wooden counter, with a parallel row of desks behind. Internal doors were glazed with small rectangular panes and the space was lit by opaque glass bowls suspended from chains. Internal photographs from 1971 show a screen mounted on top of the counter and the light fittings had been changed to three light pendants.

The National Provincial Bank merged with the Westminster Bank to form the National Westminster Bank in 1968, with appropriate updating of signage in 1970-1971. Signage was again updated when the National Westminster Bank rebranded as NatWest in 1995. An automated teller machine was installed in the 1970s.

The bank was closed in March 2018 following a flood and has subsequently had much of its fixed furniture removed, including the counters in the banking hall.

Details

Bank, built in 1927 by FCR Palmer.

MATERIALS: Constructed in brick with stone dressings and tiled roof.

PLAN: A circular atrium opens into a banking hall comprising a square central bay flanked by two rectangular bays. The west corners of the two end bays are enclosed to form interview rooms and are separated from the atrium by additional small interview rooms. A door in the south bay opens into a small lobby with an access to the strongroom to the rear and a stairwell up to a kitchen and toilets over the strongroom.

A door in the north bay opens into a small lobby allowing access to the back door, basement and upper floor of the bank. The upper floor of the bank (over the banking hall) comprises an L shaped linear sequence of offices. The basement is a single room split into two by a brick wall.

EXTERIOR: The principal (west) elevation of the bank is of five bays in red brick lain in Flemish bond with rusticated stone quoins (ashlar at upper storey level) on an ashlar plinth. The central three bays project forward and include an apsidal three door entrance. Panelled double doors sit within rusticated door cases under flat arches with foliate keystones. The doors sit under blind brick windows with gauged brick arches with geometric stone keystones. The doorways are separated by engaged Corinthian columns under an entablature that spans all three projecting bays. The frieze bears the scars of fixed letters naming the NATIONAL PROVINCIAL BANK. The remainder of the elevation contains two six-over-nine horned sash windows under gauged brick oeils-de-boeuf. The upper storey comprises five six-over-nine horned sash windows. A parapet of brick with three panels of stone balusters sits on top of the projecting bay. Urns with foliate sprays sit at either end of the parapet.

The north elevation is of five bays in red brick lain in Flemish bond with rusticated stone quoins (ashlar at upper storey level) on an ashlar plinth. The central three bays project forward and include three six-over-nine horned sash windows in stone surrounds under blind brick windows with gauged brick arches with geometric stone keystones. The windows are separated by Corinthian pilasters under an entablature that spans all three projecting bays. The frieze bears the scars of fixed letters naming the NATIONAL PROVINCIAL BANK. The upper storey comprises three six-over-nine horned sash windows.

INTERIOR: The atrium is circular and of timber with glass internal walls and doors. A large opus sectile eight pointed star is inlaid in the floor. The atrium opens into the banking hall, which is neoclassical in style with bays separated by double Corinthian pilasters and panelled walls. The hall is lit by a large tripartite window on the east wall and three sash windows on the north. The ceiling is split into three coffers, the southernmost two of which contain glazed cupolas set in square and rectangular panels. The cupolas are leaded, with geometrical patterns. The northernmost coffer contains a circular rose set in a rectangular panel. The floor is a combination of chequered tiles and wooden parquet.

Two offices open off the banking hall. Both have panelling, wainscoting and sash windows to match the banking hall. Two small offices have similar wainscoting and semi-circular windows lit by the atrium. To the rear of the banking hall is the strongroom, which is accessed through a large safe-type door.

The upper storey is accessed via an open string stone staircase with a bronze handrail and wrought iron balustrades in a stairwell in the south east corner of the bank. Halfway up each flight, the balustrade includes a wrought iron filigree balustrade decorated with a wrought iron lily.

The upper storey rooms have been modernised, with suspended ceilings and modern doors. However the sash windows survive, and the original coving survives above the suspended ceiling.

Sources

Books and journals
Vethake, H, A Dictionary, Practical, Theoretical and Historical of Commerce and Commercial Navigation, (1840), 771
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire, (2002), 301
Booker, J, Temples of Mammon: The Architecture of Banking, (1990), 240-241
Parissien, S, Barson, S, Burton, N, Holder, R, Saunders, M, Banking on Change: A Current Account of Britain's Historic Banks, (1992), 23-25

Websites
Biographical details of FCR Palmer in the Dictionary of Scottish Architects, accessed 24 January 2022 from http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=205097
History of the National Provincial Bank, accessed 24 January 2022 from https://www.natwestgroup.com/heritage/companies/national-provincial-bank-ltd.html

Other
Ordnance Survey 1:500 Town Plan (1886 edn)
Lincolnshire Historic Environment Record Entry MLI125399

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