Lancaster Buildings

NEWCASTLE UNDER LYME

644-1/0/10006 HIGH STREET 27-OCT-05 Lancaster Buildings

GV II Block of shops and offices. 1936-1940. Hickton and Madeley, Steel frame with red brick facade with stone and false-marble dressings and metal-framed windows with a plain tile hipped roof. 12 ground floor shops of varied size, basement and 2 upper storeys. Market Street elevation: The central office doorway has double bronze doors set in a Travertine marble surround with attached columns to either side. To either side are shop units with large plate glass windows. The stall risers are clad in Verte Tinos marble and the mullions and fascias are of cream filled-Travertine. To the corners are curved windows and lobbies which contain their original doors, and above the ground floor is a concrete awning with panels of glass bricks to its roof and a bronze fascia. This pattern of shop fronts with their original fittings continues around the building. At first and second floor levels the metal-framed windows have projecting stone surrounds. There are 5 central bays to Market Cross and 7 to New Street, with 7 also to Cheapside and High Street. The corners are slightly recessed and rounded with longer strip windows. On Cheapside the building is stepped at the centre to allow light to those buildings on the opposite side of the road. At either end of this face are 2-bay projecting wings. At the centre of the building is a rectangular courtyard. Interior: The bronze panelled doors facing Market Cross lead to a lobby with Travertine panelling to the walls and fluted pilaster strips. The staircase has a central lift and bronze balustrade with simple mouldings.

This is a well-designed office building with shops which retains a remarkably large quantity of original features, most particularly to the shop fronts.