Lloyds Bank

Lloyds Bank is a bank built in 1892 by Arnold Thorne. It is constructed from squared, brownish stone rubble with a granite ashlar plinth and limestone dressings, the latter covering most of the ground storey. The roof is slate. The building is in a classical style with Tudor elements. It has two storeys with a garret, and a three-window front to High Street with a six-window return to Allhalland Street.

The ground floor front and part of the return front are divided into bays by half-fluted Doric pilasters, supporting an entablature. A round-arched doorway in the left-hand bay of the High Street front has a moulded archivolt springing from panelled and moulded imposts. A stone panel incised with the word “BANK” is between the imposts, with carved foliage above. The remaining bays on the ground floor have small-paned metal windows with a design reminiscent of Venetian windows. The second-storey windows are plain with limestone surrounds, those facing High Street featuring two mullioned lights. The fronts are finished with a moulded cornice and a tall parapet, with two large triangular dormer gables rising above, one to each front. The gable facing High Street has a pair of windows surmounted by a segmental pediment, while the gable facing Allhalland Street has a Venetian window. Above the doorway at the left-hand end of the High Street front, the parapet is replaced by a circular panel displaying the date 1892, topped with a triangular pediment, scrolls and panelled pedestals. On the centre of the Allhalland Street front, the ground floor has two windows with Doric columns as mullions, with six lights on one and two on the other. There is small-paned glazing with metal bars. The upper-storey windows are of two lights with stone mullions; the left-hand window of each storey has small-paned metal casements, the others are plain wooden sashes. A rainwater pipe features good detailing.

At the left-hand end of the High Street front, a gabled staircase projection is constructed entirely of limestone on a granite plinth. The ground floor has a round-arched opening with hollow jambs, a recessed doorway set in a shaped granite frame, and a panelled door. Upper storey windows have moulded sills, architraves and cornices, with the window on the second storey also including a keystone and pulvinated frieze. The interior of the ground floor banking hall shows C20 glazed partitions, but original cornices and square columns with enriched capitals remain.