Northern Assurance Buildings

This building is a group value example of offices, constructed in 1878 by Austin, Johnson and Hicks, with a later addition to the rear. It is built of sandstone ashlar with a granite plinth and doorcase, and has a graduated dark slate roof. Designed in the Palladian style, the building is three storeys and has attics, with seven bays. The rusticated arcaded ground floor features a vermiculate plinth. A giant Ionic order frames the upper floors. The central doorcase is flanked by fluted pilasters and a pulvinated frieze, with round-headed windows recessed between the pilasters. A carved tympanum sits above the entrance, flanked by large consoles supporting a square first-floor balcony. Serpentine balconies with bowed railings are found to other first-floor windows, all within architraves and under bracketed, alternating pediments. Second-floor windows are similarly framed in architraves. The entablature, inscribed "NORTHERN ASSURANCE CO. LTD. ESTABLISHED 1836", has a prominent modillioned cornice. The roof is balustraded and has pedimented dormers. The right return to Groat Market is two bays wide, with the second bay being a later addition, matching the style of the main building.