50 and 51 Market Place

Former bank, built 1900, converted to serve as a restaurant and café.

MATERIALS: the ground-floor of the street-facing (north) elevation is faced with granite, with red-brick and ashlar stone upper floors. The roof covering is plain tile. The rear elevation is of red brick.

PLAN: 50 and 51 Market Place is a single, three-storey volume with attic; it is understood to be internally connected to neighbouring buildings.

EXTERIOR: 50 and 51 Market Place is a Flemish-style building. The north elevation at ground-floor level is faced with granite and contains three central bays of fixed, swept head fenestration. These are flanked on the east and west sides by two doorways. The western doorway is set into a rusticated doorcase with flanking brackets supporting a dentilled semi-circular pediment that breaks into the first floor, and contains a tympanum reading 'BANK' in gilt, Art Nouveau-style lettering. The eastern doorway maintains the style of the swept head fixed shop windows. Both doorways contain their elaborately-carved, original timber doors.

The first floor contains three bays of plate-glass sash windows in a 2:4:2 arrangement, with external ashlar stonework to create the impression of mullion and transom windows. An ashlar lintel tops the first-floor windows and divides them from the second floor, with plate-glass sash windows in a 1:4:1 configuration. These windows are separated by narrow pilaster strips that extend into a second masonry lintel with contrasting bands of gauged brick and ashlar stone. A modillion cornice terminates the second floor, followed by a false parapet that is coped by a moulded eaves cornice.

The north elevation is topped by a Flemish gable that extends into the steeply pitched roof with slopes oriented north-south. It contains a central bay of four windows surmounted by an arch of contrasting ashlar stone and gauged brick. Within the gable is set an ashlar stone cartouche with carved insignia. The building’s roof is framed on either side by large chimney stacks. There is a flat portion of roof over the building’s rear, south section as a continuation of the flat roof over the neighbouring buildings. The rear of the building was not inspected; however, it appears to be a later C20 reconstruction that matches the rear elevations of its neighbouring buildings.

INTERIOR: it is understood that 50 and 51 Market Place is connected to 3-5 King Street and shares its current (2024) function as a bar and restaurant establishment. It is understood to be connected to 53 Market Place on its upper floors as a shared office space.