Barclays Bank

The building is a 3-storey bank, constructed in the early 20th century, prominently situated on The Cross in Newtown. It is built of Ruabon red brick with buff terracotta dressings, set on a red terracotta plinth. The steeply pitched roof is tiled in red, with plain brick chimneys and a low leaded parapet featuring a corniced entablature. A square clock tower rises over the curved corner, topped by an octagonal cupola with concave sides, slit-like round arched windows, a ribbed lead dome, and pediments over the clock faces. Pilasters mark the corners, and a corniced band runs along the building. Paired pilasters sweep outwards to form scrolls over buttresses. The second floor features paired round arched sash windows with rusticated arches and terracotta pilasters, the upper sashes being smaller in scale. A sill band is present, with flanking brick pilasters extending down from the tower through the sill band to ornate brackets, followed by further paired windows. Taller, paired windows appear on the first floor, flanked by ornate strapwork dedication plaques, with broad tripartite windows beyond. A sill band sits above a plain entablature on convex brackets. A corner doorway features a rusticated round arch with nookshafts, a mask to the keystone, pilasters, ornate spandrels depicting putti, a blind fanlight, and six-panel double doors. The doorway is flanked by two-light mullioned windows with oval oculi above, surmounted by swan-necked pediments. Rusticated flat arches support cross windows beyond. Similar detailing is present in the central bays facing High Street and Severn Street. Ornate Dutch gables, pilasters, and urns incorporate Renaissance motifs. Centre pilasters descend to brackets at the sill band, and paired sash windows are flanked by smaller windows with ornate aprons. The first floor mirrors the second, with round arches. A modern plate glass window occupies the ground floor of the High Street elevation. A blocked "Dutch" doorcase is present on Severn Street, with sash windows to the right. A similar gable end is visible on Parker’s Lane, featuring plain raking gable parapets. The outer bays of the High and Severn Street elevations have round arched sash windows on the second floor and cross windows on the first. A modern shopfront has been introduced to the High Street. Paired round arched first floor windows are present at the corner with Parker's Lane, alongside an ornate strapwork bracket with a mask above, and a rusticated, round arched corner doorway with medallions in the spandrels. The Parker's Lane elevations are plain. A further two-storey, three-window block extends to the rear, linked by a broad doorway with balusters above. Plain raking gable parapets are found to the rear on Severn Street.