Midland Bank

The Midland Bank, located at 18A St Mary Street in Weymouth, is a bank building constructed around 1900 to 1910. It is designed in the Edwardian Baroque style and features Portland stone ashlar with some red brick banding in stretcher bond, topped with a slate roof. The building is richly detailed and includes an inset quadrant corner crowned by a lead cupola.

The exterior consists of two storeys and an attic, with two windows facing St Mary Street and four on the Bond Street return. The main front showcases a tripartite sash dormer with a central pediment, above sashes that have vertical glazing bars set in moulded stone architraves, with moulded stone sills supported by small brackets. The banking hall features two lofty arched lights with margin bars and radial designs, set within channelled rustication and voussoirs, along with a recessed plain band and deep reveals above a plain podium course.

The Bond Street front mirrors this design but includes two dormers, and the ground-floor lights extend down into the podium to a low sill level at a plinth, sloping down to the pavement on the right. The corner turret is adorned with three vertical oval oculi in architraves with a keystone, topped with a cornice above modelled pilasters, and features three sashes set in wide panelled stone mullions above a moulded sill band with brackets. The paired panelled doors are accessed via two sandstone quadrant steps and are framed by a moulded architrave, an enriched pulvinated frieze, and a cornice that follows the quadrant, all under a carved stone swag.

A broad plat band runs above the first floor, with the first-floor windows set in banded stone with brick. Above this is a deep plain frieze band and a stone modillion cornice with a secret gutter, along with cast-iron downpipes. The hipped roof has a prominent leaded roll moulding leading to a flat central section, with raised coped end gables and a large central stack.

The interior has not been inspected, but the building is noted for its careful detailing and use of quality materials, exemplifying the pre-war banking tradition and serving as a fine example of Edwardian Baroque architecture.