Victoria Buildings

Victoria Buildings is a terrace of shops with accommodation above, located at the corner of St Edward Street and Broad Street in Leek. It was built in 1897 and designed by James G Smith for Henry Bermingham, a local silk manufacturer. The ground floor is finished in ashlar, while the upper floors feature half-timbering and a plain-tiled roof.

The exterior includes three shop fronts on the Broad Street elevation, framed by moulded stone arches. To the right, there is a single original shop front with an inset door to the left and mullioned upper lights, while other shop fronts have been inserted into the original openings. A doorway provides access to the upper floors, located between the shop fronts to the right of centre, featuring a bulls-eye window above and paired 2-light mullioned windows to the right.

The angle with St Edward Street has a similar shop front and another original shop front. Above the ground floor, there is a moulded cornice followed by four gabled bays on the Broad Street elevation, each with variously fenestrated 2 and 4-light mullioned windows. All windows feature lozenge leadwork, and there are shallow oriel windows in the attic storey. The upper storey displays close-studded timbering with arched tension braces and arcading beneath the windows. The canted gable at the angle with St Edward Street has 2-light mullioned windows on each floor.

On the St Edward Street elevation, a wide gable contains a shop front and an adjacent doorway at ground level, paired 3-light mullioned windows on the first floor, and a 6-light mullioned window in the wide gable apex, which is decorated with ogee timbering. The end wall and axial stacks feature star-shaped shafts and corbelled caps. This building is a prominent and intricately detailed example of revival 'black and white' architecture. The interior has not been inspected.