Royal Bank Of Scotland

LEEDS

SE2933NE PARK ROW 714-1/75/298 (West side) Nos.26 AND 27 Royal Bank of Scotland

GV II

Bank and insurance company premises, now bank. 1909, altered C20. By Perkin and Bulmer. White matt-glazed faience, ('Marmo') made by the Leeds Fireclay Company at Burmantofts, slate roof, cast-iron balconies and other fittings. 3 storeys on left; 4 storeys and attic on right, 4 bays, curved corner bays, 5 bays to returns, South Parade (north) and Bedford Street (south). Rusticated ground floor and pilasters centre and flanking corners which rise to deep 3rd-floor cornice on left and to pedimented parapet right. Tall segmental-arched doorways and windows on ground floor, flat-arched windows decrease in depth on upper storeys. Decorative details include: 1st-floor balconies, moulded plaques with figures below 2nd-floor windows, oval plaques with female figures representing Commerce, Wisdom etc and the symbol of the Fire and Life Insurance Company; 2nd-floor entablature with gold raised lettering: 'ANNO/ SCOTTISH UNION & NATIONAL/1824/ INSURANCE COMPANY OFFICES', repeated on right return. The right block, (No.26) has a 3rd storey with parapet and round corner turret with domed roof and finial, dormer windows, corniced stack. Original fittings include square-section drain pipes and small-pane windows, ironwork details painted green. INTERIOR: not inspected. HISTORICAL NOTE: the Burmantofts company developed Marmo as a washable walling which imitated marble and was resistant to erosion; it was used in several ornate city centre shop and office premises before WWI and was popular for plainer cinemas in the 1920s and 1930s. Premises of the London and Smith's Bank, (left) and the Scottish Union and National Insurance Company, this building is probably the earliest example in the city, the first was built in 1908 in York. RCHME archive has record of manufacturers and craftsmen involved in the building, including Thewlis and Co (sculpture) and T Pape and Co (stained glass). (Victorian Society Journal, West Yorkshire Branch: Van Lemmen, Hans: Burmantoft's Marmo: 1983-: 22; Guide to the Burmantofts Exhibition: Leeds City Museum and Bradford Museum: 1983-).

Listing NGR: SE2991633707