2 The Cross

This is an early 18th-century house, later used as a club, and now a banking hall. It is constructed of reddish-brown brick with dark red gauged brick flat arches, and has a stuccoed ground floor and ashlar detailing. The roof is hipped, covered in plain tiles, and features brick stacks to the left and right, with an overhanging course and decorative pots. The building is four storeys high, with four windows on the first floor.

The façade features quoins that run the full height of the building. Stucco detailing includes swags below the second and third-floor windows, and acanthus keystones above the first, second, and third-floor windows. The first floor has a continuous ashlar sill band and tall 6/6 flush sashes. The second floor has 6/6 flush sashes, while the third floor has 3/6 flush sashes. The windows on the second and third floors have moulded sills, and all windows on these floors are set within flat arches. A dentil frieze and modillion cornice, with paterae between, sits at the top of the building. The ground floor has three 6/4 sashes framed by replacement keystones.

The entrance on the left-hand side is accessed by a flight of steps leading to a 6-panel door, with lower flush beaded panels and upper raised and fielded panels. The door is set within panelled reveals and features a fluted frieze, a fanlight with radial glazing bars and swags, and an elaborate doorcase with three-quarter engaged Ionic columns and an open dentil pediment. The left return of the building has five first-floor windows, with the first, fourth and fifth bays featuring blind openings. The remaining windows are 6/6 and 3/3 sashes; some original windows retain 6/6 panes, and staircase sashes have radial glazing bars to the heads and round arches. The rear elevation also has 6/6 and 3/3 sashes.

The interior retains original joinery and plasterwork, including panelled window reveals, a fireplace with a decorative chimneypiece and overmantel, and embellished cornices on the first floor.

This building is part of a significant group of listed buildings including those at Premises occupied by Costa, Premises occupied by Lloyds Bank, Church of St Nicholas and Numbers 20, 21, 28, and 31 on The Cross, which together create an important visual framework for the entrance to the city centre.