Reliance House And Attached Wall, Piers, Railings And Gates To Forecourt

Reliance House is a building society branch and offices constructed in 1930, with an architect currently unconfirmed. It is built in a Neo-Georgian style incorporating elements of Egyptian and Art Deco design, and it includes minor alterations from the late 20th century. The rear building, dating from the 1970s, is not considered to have group value. The structure is primarily of brown brick in a Flemish bond pattern, accented with red brick voussoirs and stone dressings, with yellow brick used on much of the side elevations. It is two storeys high and has a window arrangement of 2:4 on each elevation.

The plan features a banking hall on the left ground floor, with a staircase to the right, and offices on the first floor. The front elevation has a projecting centrepiece with a deep cornice, band, and stone pediment, supported on rusticated piers and central columns with Egyptian-inspired capitals featuring acanthus leaves and fluting. A central doorcase has an open pediment, a moulded surround including a tablet inscribed "Reliance House," a surviving original tapering cast iron lantern with decorative leadwork, and oak double doors consisting of three fielded panels each, accessed by three granite steps. The original concertina-type cast iron security gates are still present. Tall round-headed arches flank the door, containing metal glazing bars with a circular pivoting upper panel and brick blank panels below. Small four-light pivoting casements are present on the first floor, with a similar round-headed window on the ground floor left side. The right side features a deep round-headed fanlight with a pivoting circular aperture and an oak doorcase with double doors of three deeply fielded panels.

Attached to the left is a low brick wall with stone coping and eight stone piers capped with shallow pyramids. These piers support cast iron panels, incorporating central gates and a right-side gate, all in a matching pattern. The left side elevation includes a projecting bay with a four-light window similar to that on the front elevation and a round-headed ground floor window. The rest of this elevation is in yellow brick, with two round-headed ground floor windows, three small metal windows, and first-floor windows replaced in the late 20th century within existing openings. The right side features a similar projecting bay and ground floor window to the front, with the remainder of the elevation in yellow brick and windows replaced in the late 20th century within original openings.