Marks and Spencer

Marks and Spencer, located at 84 and 86 King Street, was built in 1866 by architects T M Clemence and J C Phipps. Originally known as the "New Theatre" or Theatre Royal, the building's design was selected through a competition. Although the original pedimented portico has been removed and a modern store front has been added to the ground floor, the building still presents an elegant classical elevation. The original ground floor featured two shops on either side of the entrances. The theatre ceased operations in the early 1930s. The building is constructed of painted ashlar and consists of three bays and three storeys. The ground floor has a modern store front with an original modillion cornice. Above this, the upper elevation features a Corinthian pilaster under unfluted paired pilasters at the centre bay, which rise through two storeys and support a full entablature with a plain frieze and modillion cornice. A deep parapet with pedestals over the pilasters sits above the cornice. The first-floor windows, which have modern glazing, are adorned with architraves and pediments on scrolled brackets, with triangular pediments on the outer bays and a segmental one on the centre bay. The two outer bays of the second floor are illuminated by oval windows, whose architraves are decorated with swags descending from masks of comedy and tragedy, while the centre bay features a framed, recessed, horizontal panel.