Barclays Bank, 20 The Town, Enfield

Barclays Bank, 20 The Town, Enfield

Bank built in 1897 to designs by William Gilbee Scott for the London and Provincial Bank. A single-storey rear extension was added in the mid-20th century. The interior has been much altered.

The building is constructed of red brick laid in Flemish bond with stone dressings and ground floor facing, beneath slate roofs. It has a rectangular plan with three storeys plus attic and basement. The principal range fronts onto The Town, with lower two and three-storey ranges and a 20th-century single-storey extension to the rear.

The principal south elevation is designed in Flemish Renaissance style and comprises four bays. The two central bays are topped by a shaped gable with stone dressings and a segmental pediment, acroteria in the form of a pinnacle and urns, and behind it an elaborate cupola with leaded dome and spire. Upper-floor fenestration consists of timber casement windows. In the outer bays these are set behind stone mullion and transoms within square-headed rubbed brick surrounds, with second-floor windows featuring scrolled segmental pediments. Windows in the narrower central bays have only the transom. Lintels and sills are formed by continuous moulded cornices running around three sides of the building, interspersed with stone banding. The bays are separated by half-octagonal engaged brick piers terminating in engaged pendants. The double-height ground floor is faced in ashlar and features an arched opening in each of the four bays, below a frieze and dentil cornice. The arched openings have volute keystones, plain patera in the spandrels and fluted imposts. Three openings contain timber-framed windows with fanlights; the entrance occupies the third bay and features a segmental hood with elaborate consoles and decorative panels, supported on columns with composite capitals and carved base to the plain shafts. The moulded door surround is interrupted by banding, and above it the word 'BANK' is carved in relief interspersed with foliage. A round blue metal plaque below one of the windows commemorates the installation of the world's first cash machine in 1967.

The east and west elevations feature prominent shaped gables incorporating chimneys with stone dressings, triangular pediments, ball finials and panels inscribed 'BANK'. Fenestration of the two window bays matches the front elevation, as do the banding and cornices. On the east elevation the ashlar facing extends for only one bay and includes an arched window matching the front elevation. The ground floor of the west elevation, onto the town square, has an arched window to each bay; that to the southern bay is larger and the opening has been modified at its foot to incorporate a pair of cash machines, one painted gold to commemorate the original installed in 1967. The northern window lacks the patera in the spandrels. Between the two windows is an elaborate datestone with foliate decoration in relief, dated 1897. The northern part of the elevation is slightly set back and steps down from three storeys to two. The higher southern part has a brick cornice and hipped roof with a flat-roofed three-window dormer. The lower northern section has a flat roof with a stone cornice and a tall chimney with stone dressings. On the ground floor the entrance, which originally served the manager's flat, is set within an ashlar section with a cornice and frieze, topped by a segmental pediment. The four-panel door has a three-light transom in a moulded surround and is flanked by a pair of narrow replacement windows with stone sills. To the south is a replacement metal-framed window with a rubbed brick surround and stone mullion and sill. On the first floor above the entrance are a pair of nine-light timber casements in rubbed brick surrounds with stone segmental pediments and sills. The window to the north has a pair of six-over-one timber sashes separated by a stone mullion with a rubbed brick surround, apron and stone sill. The second floor has a pair of three-over-six timber sashes in brick surrounds with stone sills. The northern elevation of the northern range has a nine-light timber window to the upper floor.

The 20th-century single-storey rear extension is of brick with a continuous concrete band over mainly blocked windows and a brick parapet. This is excluded from the listing as it is not of special architectural or historic interest, though works with potential to affect the character of the listed building may still require listed building consent.

The ground floor interior has been modernised several times and contains no visible historic features; the original layout has been lost. The banking hall has a lower modern suspended ceiling, but the original may survive above. In the rear range, the original open-well, closed-string stair survives, featuring an oak handrail, newel posts with finials and pendants and turned balusters. Upper floors retain some original joinery and cornices, though most have been replaced or lost. The strong room door in the basement of the rear range may be original.