Old Employment Exchange

The Old Employment Exchange in Barnstaple is a bank, later converted into shops and a studio, likely built around 1850-60. It was originally constructed for the West of England and South Wales District Bank. The building is constructed of limestone ashlar facing onto The Square, set upon a granite ashlar plinth, with red brick side walls. It has a slated mansard roof and two limestone ashlar chimneys with bracketed cornices and shaped tops, along with a red brick chimney at the rear, also with a bracketed stone cornice.

The architectural style is Classical, largely Italianate. The ground floor likely housed a large banking hall, with offices occupying the front right-hand corner. Access is gained via an entrance passage at the right-hand end, leading to a rear staircase. The building is three storeys high with a garret. The front facade facing The Square has three bays, while the side facing Boutport Street has two. The ground floor is rusticated, with vermiculated quoins and surrounds to the openings. It features two round-arched windows on each front, along with round-arched doorways on the rounded corner and at the right-hand end of the front. A moulded string course is situated at impost level. The second-floor windows have plain surrounds and cornices resting on consoles, with the exception of the right-hand window facing The Square, which is a three-light design. The third-floor windows have moulded architraves slightly buttressed at the front. Plain sash windows are present in both upper storeys.

The rounded corner has a shaped panel on the second storey and a pair of shields displaying coats of arms on the third storey. Dormer windows with triangular pediments, bracketed at the front and sides, are positioned towards The Square and Boutport Street.

The interior of the ground floor is largely intact. The main room has panelled walls and ceilings, with enriched soffits to the beams, and modillioned cornices. The entrance passage features a similar cornice, along with a chandelier boss. A geometrical wooden staircase has slender turned balusters, carved step-ends, and a voluted balustrade at the foot.

Historically, the building was erected for the West of England and South Wales District Bank, which had previously operated in Bridge Buildings. The bank ceased trading in 1878 and was replaced by a branch of the Devon and Cornwall Bank in 1880, which was subsequently absorbed by Lloyds Bank in 1906.