72-74 Westgate

Two early 19th century townhouses are located on Westgate, Wakefield. Each is three storeys high and two bays wide, with the western house (number 74) slightly projecting. They have low-pitched stone-flagged roofs and moulded stone cornices; the cornice to 72 Westgate includes modillions and a thin triglyph frieze. The buildings are constructed of red brick with gauged bricks forming flat arches above the window openings, which have stone sills and replaced sash windows. The ground floor frontages to Westgate feature mirrored early 20th century stone-built neoclassical office/shop fronts, with doorways set apart.

Westgate developed in the medieval period and became a desirable residential district for merchants in the 17th and 18th centuries. A large townhouse once occupied the site of the current buildings, and was demolished in 1795 to create Cheapside. Number 72 Westgate was built as a small townhouse by Henry Soulby, a wool merchant, with his brother John building a matching property at 70 Westgate. Number 74 Westgate was built separately, likely around the same time, and subsequently had its ground floors remodelled with stone frontages for commercial use. Early photographs indicate that 72 Westgate originally had a first-floor canted bay window, similar to that once present at 70 Westgate. In the 20th century, the combined property of 72 and 74 Westgate served as a branch of the Yorkshire County Savings Bank, later becoming a solicitor’s office and then a bar in 1991. The buildings are included on the list partly for group value.