Barclays Bank

HERTFORD

TL3212NE FORE STREET 817-1/17/76 (South side) 10/02/50 Nos.76 AND 78 Barclays Bank

GV II

Shop with living accommodation over, now bank and offices. Early C19, ground floor rebuilt 1885, with mid C20 internal alterations and rear extension. Painted stone and stucco facade, yellow stock brick and stucco rear outshoots, Welsh slated roofs, concealed by parapet above cornice, stepped up in centre. EXTERIOR: 3 storeys. 5-bay front 1:3:1. First floor has triple sashes, 4:12:4 panes, separated by slender antae, with large pediments above carried on moulded consoles. Central 3 bays break forward, with three 12-pane sash windows in moulded architrave surrounds, the centre window also having a plain outer surround with a flat moulded cornice hood carried on moulded consoles. Second floor has 5 sash windows, all 12 pane, with the central window having a moulded architrave surround, and a projecting sill carried on plain corbels at either side. Ground floor has plinth, moulded string course, with raised panelled Tuscan Doric pilasters defining central 3 bays, coupled at left and right and single flanking central bay, above responds. Triple window at left, fixed small-paned sashes, with projecting transom, separated by panelled Tuscan antae, with moulded projecting surround-cill raised during 1980s to accommodate cash dispensing machines in stucco panel below. 3 central windows of mullion and transom pattern with moulded architrave surround. To right is former carriageway with channelled rusticated jambs and elliptical arch, now infilled with modern multi-panel hardwood double-leaf doors below fixed panel head. Ground floor surmounted by entablature with plain frieze and moulded cornice, with modillions to central 3 bays. Rear elevations plain, with 12-pane sash windows first and second floors, with pink sandstone bands and stepped lintels on first floor, and yellow stock brick, Flemish Bond walls. Lower 2-storey stuccoed outshoot with recessed sash window in first floor and flush set sashes on ground floor. INTERIOR: largely gutted and opened out on ground floor, with main entrance taken through former carriageway, replacing previous entrance in right-hand bay of centre. HISTORICAL NOTE: this building was constructed by a local

store owner, Rayment, in early C19. The ground floor originally had twin Ionic columns in antis, with a central entrance and large-paned shop windows left and right. The ground floor was altered by Barclays in 1885 when they acquired the site. (Hope Bagenal: The Georgian and Post Georgian Buildings of Hertford: 1929-: 19-20; Green L: Hertford's Past in pictures: Ware: 1993-: 162).

Listing NGR: TL3274412587