St Peters Chambers

St Peter's Chambers is an offices and shops building dating to around 1880, located on St Petersgate. It is constructed in brick with sandstone dressings, a slate roof, and brick stacks.

The building is rectangular in plan, with five shop units on the ground floor arranged in groups of two and a single unit at the south-west end, separated by two doorways with entrance lobbies and staircases leading to upper-floor chambers. Two chambers with suites of rooms occupy the first floor.

The exterior features Flemish bond brickwork to the front elevation with a bracketed heavy wooden modillion eaves cornice. The left (north-east) side is a five-bay range (Nos.35-43) with a central doorway to No.39. This doorway is distinguished by its round-headed design with an elaborate carved stone surround of curved inner arch encased in cable-moulding, with segmental indents to the arch voussoirs and a console keystone surmounted by a bust of St Peter in an outer arch. Crossed keys appear below the bust, and incised gothic lettering to each side reads "St Peter's Chambers". Above the outer arch is a segmental-curved modillion cornice, continued as a straight modillion cornice above the ground-floor shops (though now partially obscured by modern shop fronts), with a first-floor stone band above. The doorway itself consists of three-panelled double doors with a plain semi-circular fanlight. The first-floor bay above projects slightly and contains a round-headed two-pane sash window with moulded stone head, giant keystone, and impost band continued along the full length of the five-bay elevation. Two flanking bays to each side have tripartite windows separated by pilasters with flower motif sandstone heads and bases. The windows have moulded stone surrounds with modillions to the lintels, and between the individual two-pane sashes are very slender barley-twist iron columns with foliate caps. All ground-floor shops have modern shop fronts.

The right (south-west) end is a slightly projecting range (No.45) with three first-floor bays and a central gablet in the form of a broken triangular pediment. To the left of the ground floor is a round-arched doorway to the first-floor chambers with moulded stone imposts and head with giant keystone rising to a first-floor stone band. This doorway also has two-panelled double doors with a plain semi-circular fanlight. To the right is a loggia of three round-headed openings with a modern shop front behind. Above is a large central oriel window with a gadrooned stone pedestal base, a semi-circular window with five curved two-pane sash windows separated by slender iron colonettes, surmounted by a decorative ironwork balustrade with sunflower motifs. Within the gablet above the balustrade is a round-headed two-pane sash window with moulded stone head and keystone. Flanking the oriel are two-pane sash windows with tall stone tympanums carved with flower motifs.

The interior of each entrance to the upper chambers has a lobby with original glazed and timber panelled screens incorporating central doors with a lower moulded panel and two-thirds glazing above. Inside the screens are two similar stair halls with heavy moulded cornicing and wooden staircases with newel posts incorporating composite capitals and gadrooned finials, turned wooden balusters and shaped cheekpieces. Moulded cornices and deep moulded skirting boards survive, as do original four-panelled doors and architraves in No.45. A decorative metal mantelpiece is present in No.45 and a marble fireplace in No.39. The interiors were only partially inspected.

The architect Thomas Allen had offices here in the 1880s and may have been responsible for the design, though original Building Regulation Plans are not known to survive.