Kington Library, Formerly The Old Radnor Trading Company Headquarters

KINGTON

643-1/0/10003 BRIDGE STREET 17-SEP-02 Kington (East side) Kington Library, formerly the Old Radn or Trading Company Headquarters

GV II

Offices and showroom. 1905, by C.S. Delfosse for the Old Radnor Lime, Roadstone and General Trading Company. Precast concrete; roof not visible. Clasical style. 2 storeys. Corner site, comprising 5 windows onto Duke Street and two onto Bridge Street. Plate-glass sashes. Balustraded parapet, with urns over panels to each bay division. Modillioned cornice. First floor has ashlar finish, and plate-glass sashes in moulded architraves. Moulded string with Greek key frieze over rusticated ground floor, the segmental arches over the windows having voussoirs and keyblocks with relief scrolls. Vermiculated quoins flank curved entrance bay to centre; double-leaf panelled doors set in Gibbs surround with vermiculated blocks and relief-moulded keyblock; blank parapet surmounted by pediment with date in tympanum. Ornamental air bricks. Interior: moulded cornicing and original joinery including panelled doors; walnut desk counter; etched glass with Greek key margins and central company logo. History: this building occupies a pivotal corner site in the centre of this town. The Old Radnor Lime, Roadstone and General Trading Company, set up in 1875, acquired a strong reputation for the quality of their precast concrete, being awarded the gold medal at the National Trades Industrial Exhibition in 1897. Decorative precast concrete had been used on a limited scale since the mid 19th century, this being a particularly ornate example made to resemble granite.