Central Conservative Club

PRESTON

SD5429SW CHURCH STREET 941-1/12/79 (South side) 12/06/50 Nos.140 & 140A Central Conservative Club (Formerly Listed as: CHURCH STREET Nos.140 & 140A The Bull and Royal Hotel)

GV II

Conservative Working Men's Club. Dated 1892-3; altered. Red brick with terracotta and sandstone dressings, slate roof. Rectangular plan (embraced by Bull and Royal Hotel to right, q.v.). Jacobean style. Three storey facade of 2 bays plus corner oriel to left, with plinth, 1st-floor balcony and 2-storey octagonal corner oriel, moulded cornice, balustraded parapet with gablet over centre. Doorway to right with pedimented architrave, the bases of the jambs with inscriptions recording that the foundation stone (left) was laid by Edmund Birley Esq., JP, on December 17th 1892, and that the club was opened by the Marquis of Salisbury KG on October 17th 1893; 3 altered windows to the left; stone balcony on stone brackets, with delicately scrolled wrought-iron railings; mullion-and-transom windows on upper floors (6-lights at 1st floor, 4-lights at 2nd floor), and tall narrow transomed windows in the oriel (all these windows with sandstone surrounds); terracotta panels over windows, those at 1st floor decorated with swags, shields, etc., those over 2nd floor including panels lettered "P.C.W.M.C." and "1893". Stepped and pilastered gablet with oculus and kneelers. Left gable wall rendered. INTERIOR not inspected. History: Preston Conservative Working Men's Club originated with organisations promoted among Protestant working men following 2nd Parliamentary Reform Act in 1867, to advance the political interests of the local landlord and property developer Sir W.E.M.Tomlinson MP, in opposition to middle class Conservative leaders who founded Guildhall Street Conservative Club (Guildhall House, q.v.).

Listing NGR: SD5415429349