The Gibson Hall is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

at 13

Bishopsgate Bishopsgate was one of the eastern gates in London's former defensive wall. The gate gave its name to the Bishopsgate Ward of the City of London. The ward is traditionally divided into ''Bishopsgate Within'', inside the line wall, and ''Bishop ...

in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

. Previously known as National Westminster Hall, the building is named after its architect, John Gibson. Built of

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...

in the classical style with engaged

Corinthian column The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order ...

s, the building was commissioned as a new head office by the directors of the

National Provincial Bank of England National Provincial Bank was a British retail bank which operated in England and Wales from 1833 until 1970 when it was merged into the National Westminster Bank. It continued to exist as a dormant non-trading company until 2016 when it was vo ...

and completed in 1865. Opening in 1866, there were only 4 arched bays and just seven figures stood atop. The additional 2 bay extension and rooftop figures, Shipbuilding and Mining, were added in 1878, relocating the figure for London so that it remained at the corner of the then newly extended building. The exterior elevation features eight panels of allegorical scenes in high relief representing the achievements of mankind: the Arts, Commerce, Science, Manufactures, Agriculture, Navigation, Shipbuilding and Mining. Standing figures along the roof line represent various important cities in which the bank did business, including Manchester, Birmingham, Dover, Newcastle and London.Barnes, Victoria and Newton, Luc
''Symbolism in bank marketing and architecture: the headquarters of National Provincial Bank of England''
Management and Organizational History, Vol. 14, No. 3 (pp. 213–244), 5 December 2019 The building was listed in 1950, for its special architectural and historic interest. In 1967, National Provincial Bank moved its head office to

Drapers Gardens Drapers Gardens is a site in the City of London at the junction of Throgmorton Avenue and Copthall Avenue on land owned by the Drapers' Company. Originally a garden space, it was largely built over by the early twentieth century. It has been the ...

, 12 Throgmorton Avenue. From the time of its disposal by

National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, it ...

in 1998 until recently, 13 Bishopsgate had been operating solely as an events hosting venue available for hire to the general public. It is currently closed and no longer listed as available as a venue for hire.

References

{{coord, 51.5147, -0.0836, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Grade I listed buildings in the City of London Commercial buildings completed in 1865 Office buildings completed in 1865 Grade I listed banks NatWest Group