Former Barclays Bank

MATERIALS: Portland stone over stock brick.

PLAN: a three-storey building on a corner site, with the former banking hall at ground level and offices on the floors above.

EXTERIOR: externally the bank appears as a pedimented box in chaste Classical style, a small palazzo with overtones of a Grecian temple. It has three storeys of progressively decreasing height, divided by plat bands. The front elevation to the High Road is of three narrow bays. The double-height ground floor has two Doric half-columns in antis, recessed between which are two tiers of windows in embossed metal surrounds, the lower ones round-headed and surmounted by a miniature Doric frieze inscribed B-A-N-K. The first-floor windows are six-over-nine timber sashes with simple moulded cornices and aprons. The upper floor has tripartite windows alternating with blank raised panels. Above is a triangular pediment; the roof behind is flat, its plain stone parapet just visible on either side. The west elevation to Clements Road is similar, but with broader bays and without the half-columns and pediment.

To the rear are two extensions: a three-storey neo-Regency one of mid-C20 date, and a single-storey red-brick block of c.1980; these elements are not of special interest and are excluded from the listing.

INTERIORS: the ground-floor banking hall has been completely stripped out, and no features of interest survive. The office floors above are less altered, and retain simple timber skirtings, doors, stair etc. On the first floor is a built-in cupboard with intersecting 'Gothick' glazing bars.