Number 85 And Attached Railings Old Bank And Attached Railings

Number 85 Regent Street and Number 73 The Parade, Royal Leamington Spa (known as the Old Bank)

House, now bank, dating from circa 1818 with later additions and alterations. The building is constructed of pinkish-brown brick with painted stucco facades, and features a Welsh slate roof with ridge stacks. Cast-iron railings and balconies are integral to the design.

The main facade on The Parade comprises four storeys with five first-floor windows arranged in a 2:1:2 pattern, the outer bays projecting. A plinth and horizontal rustication define the ground floor. The first floor has outer bays with tall 6/9 sash windows with tooled surrounds and cornices on consoles. The centre features a 10-pane French window with divided overlight within a tooled surround crowned by a pediment on consoles; a short balustrade of bobbin balusters projects over the porch. The second floor has a continuous sill band with 6/6 sash windows with tooled surrounds, the centre window having ears. The third floor contains 3/3 sash windows with sills. All windows are set in plain reveals. The ground floor has a central entrance within a distyle Corinthian porch with engaged pilasters, frieze and cornice. Double multi-panel doors are set within a doorcase of fluted pilasters, with a fanlight featuring decorative glazing bars and a rusticated surround. Six-pane sashes with fanlights displaying radial glazing and rusticated surrounds sit either side, with sills and plain reveals. The first-floor outer bays each have continuous balconies with ornate, scrolling balustrades and ornate dividers.

The right return on Regent Street rises four storeys with five first-floor windows and a basement to the left, its facade almost identical to the main front. The ground floor has an entrance to the right, accessed by five steps, featuring a six-panel door with blind overlight between pilasters with horizontal rustication, set within a porch with similar pillars and a cambered arch with central keystone and cornice. The ground-floor fenestration otherwise matches the main facade, except for one wider fixed light window with margin-lights and radial glazing to the head. Upper-floor windows match the front facade. The basement has no openings. The first floor has a similar but continuous balustrade.

The subsidiary features include railings and two gates across the front of the return, abutting the main facade, with two levels of rails and bars topped with spear-and-tassel finials. The steps to the basement have stick balusters.

The building occupies an important corner site. Originally known as Gloucester House, it was occupied by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester during a visit to the Spa in 1822. It was altered to a bank in that same year. The street was originally called Lillington Lane, renamed Union Row around 1809, and had become The Parade by 1860. The lower section of the Parade was laid out circa 1810-14 and built 1814-1818, with the upper section on the east side constructed circa 1824-1840. Numbers 71 and 73 The Parade together with Numbers 87-93 (odd) Regent Street form an architectural group.