State Insurance Building

The State Insurance Building is an office building constructed in 1906 by Aubrey Thomas. It features a flamboyant Gothic style and is made of ashlar stone, standing five storeys tall with three bays. The ground floor is finished in polished granite and includes stone arches, with a narrow ogee arch for the office doorway on the left and a wider one on the right, both adorned with spandrels of blind Flamboyant tracery. Above the doorway is a stair turret topped with a triple-ogee arched canopy over a first-floor window, which is decorated with cable mouldings and has a balustraded balcony.

The upper three storeys showcase ogee-headed traceried windows, culminating in an octagonal top that extends above the eaves line and is also balustraded. The other two bays consist of three storeys, featuring two-light windows on the first and second floors, and three-light windows on the third floor, all with Flamboyant tracery and topped with a gable that includes attic lights. Four slender fluted colonnettes separate the bays, and there is an added canopy over the ground floor. The original design was symmetrical around the stair turret.

Inside, the courtyard is covered by a glazed barrel vault with traceried ends, and there are galleries with wooden balustrading spanning from the first to the third floors, while the ground floor is fully glazed. The interior of the ground floor retains elaborate plaster decorations in ceiling panels supported by metal columns, along with blind arcading featuring marble detailing. This includes inset panels with plaster reliefs by Alfred R. Martin, depicting themes from traditional ballads and tales, with at least twelve panels still intact. Additionally, there are reliefs illustrating castles, including Dacre and Egremont, located in the former entrance hall.