21, Market Street

LANCASTER

SD4761NE MARKET STREET 1685-1/7/156 (South side) No.21

GV II

Cinema and cafe, now shop. c1918, converted c1985. Steel-framed with grey terracotta facade. Baroque Revival style. Deep rectangular plan. 3 storeys and 3 bays. The entrance and shop windows on the ground floor are deeply recessed behind 4 Tuscan columns, of which the outer 2 are engaged; above each column, on the architrave, is a small cartouche. The first and second floors are articulated by 4 rusticated pilasters, with lion masks near their bases, which carry a modillion cornice and blocking course. The windows are paired in the central bay and single in the outer bays; they are sashed and have stained glass. On the first floor they have moulded architraves with tall keystones. On the second floor they have plain reveals; the outer ones have a tall keystone, but the central one has a triple keystone and is shorter, since its sill is placed above a tall apron which is decorated by a swagged cartouche. The top of the right-hand side wall retains traces of a painted sign which reads: 'PICTURES', 'CAFE'. The facade makes an important contribution to the streetscape. HISTORY: built as the Palladium Cinema, and now the oldest surviving purpose-built cinema building in the town.

Listing NGR: SD4766361672