155–158 North Street, Brighton
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The building at 155–158 North Street in
Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
, part of the English coastal city of Brighton and Hove, was built between 1921 and 1923 as a branch of National Provincial Bank. The King Louis-style bank was built on the site of several shops (with offices above). The properties were acquired by the National Provincial Bank during 1916–20. The Brighton Gazette had occupied 155a North Street since 1910, when its long-time home at number 150 was converted into the Cinema de Luxe. Published by William James Towner, the paper’s full title was the Brighton Gazette, Hove Post and Sussex Telegraph (It later became part of National Westminster Bank's network of branches following the merger of National Provincial and Westminster Bank). In 2011 it became J D Wetherspoon's second pub in central Brighton. One of many buildings by the prolific local architecture firm of
Clayton & Black Clayton & Black were a firm of architects and surveyors from Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. In a career spanning the Victorian, Edwardian and interwar eras, they were responsible for designing and constructing an eclect ...
, whose work in various styles can be found across the city, it forms an important component of the range of banks, offices and commercial buildings on North Street—a significant commercial thoroughfare since the 18th century. In particular, the "good attention to detail" shown throughout the building's Louis XVI-style façade has been praised. English Heritage has listed it at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.


History

Brighton (originally Brighthelmston) originated as a fishing village bounded by four streets named after the points of the compass. The land to the north, west and east was agricultural. North Street lay on the main route towards London, and it thrived as the town grew in the 18th century: by 1800 it was the centre of commerce, lined with inns, shops and offices. Many buildings on the north side were removed between 1874 and 1879 when the road was widened, and offices and banks were attracted to the area. Large early 20th-century buildings included offices for the Prudential Association and the Royal Assurance Society and a branch of Midland Bank, and the north side of the street was soon "dominated" by such companies. National Provincial Bank, a major
retail bank Retail banking, also known as consumer banking or personal banking, is the provision of services by a bank to the general public, rather than to companies, corporations or other banks, which are often described as wholesale banking. Banking servi ...
founded in 1833, sought to open a branch in Brighton, and in 1921 they commissioned the
Clayton & Black Clayton & Black were a firm of architects and surveyors from Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. In a career spanning the Victorian, Edwardian and interwar eras, they were responsible for designing and constructing an eclect ...
firm to work with their in-house architect F.C.R. Palmer to design a building on North Street at the corner of Bond Street. The site faced the Midland Bank branch of 1902. Clayton & Black had nearly 50 years of experience in Brighton and neighbouring Hove, designing an eclectic range of buildings to serve a variety of functions. Among other commissions, they were responsible for the Royal Assurance Society offices at 163 North Street. The building was completed in 1923, and it was in use by National Provincial until the bank merged with the Westminster Bank in 1968 to form the National Westminster Bank. The branch was rebranded with that identity. From the 1990s, in response to changes in Government policy over alcohol licensing, many bank branches were sold for conversion into pubs and bars. There was already a National Westminster Bank branch a short distance away, at the corner of North Street and Pavilion Buildings, and 155–158 North Street was turned into a bar. By the early 21st century it operated under the name ''Saqqara''. A sports bar and nightclub called ''The Gentleman's Turf'' then occupied the building, and it was later acquired by the J D Wetherspoon chain, which was granted permission by the city council in July 2010 to convert it into a pub. The ''Post & Telegraph'' opened on 21 December 2010. It is a short distance from the group's ''Bright Helm'' pub, and as of is one of four Wetherspoon outlets in the city of Brighton and Hove.


Heritage

Under the name ''National Westminster Bank'', 155–158 North Street was listed at Grade II by English Heritage on 23 June 1994. This status is given to "nationally important buildings of special interest". As of February 2001, it was one of 1,124 Grade II-listed buildings and structures, and 1,218 listed buildings of all grades, in the city of Brighton and Hove. The building is within the North Laine Conservation Area, one of 34 conservation areas in the city of Brighton and Hove. This was designated by Brighton Council in 1977 and covers .


Architecture

The stone-built structure is in the Louis XVI style, a derivative of Neoclassical architecture. Elements of the Edwardian Baroque style, which Clayton & Black used in their 1904 commission at 163 North Street, have also been identified. The building has been said to stand "glowering ... across the entrance to Bond Street" at T.B. Whinney's Edwardian/ Italianate Midland Bank branch of 1902. The two-storey building has six windows facing North Street, a
chamfer A chamfer or is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces. Chamfers are frequently used in machining, carpentry, fu ...
ed corner entrance
bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...
and three windows to each floor facing Bond Street. There are
dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space ...
windows set into the slate-tiled
mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...
. There are three entrances: two subsidiary doorways in the outermost bays, and an elaborate arrangement in the corner bay consisting of straight-headed double doors decorated with zodiac-themed reliefs, set in an
architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can ...
with a
cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...
supported on
corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...
s, below which is an
escutcheon Escutcheon may refer to: * Escutcheon (heraldry), a shield or shield-shaped emblem, displaying a coat of arms * Escutcheon (furniture), a metal plate that surrounds a keyhole or lock cylinder on a door * (in medicine) the distribution of pubic ha ...
with a bas-relief coat of arms. Above the cornice and its
entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...
is a lavishly decorated
Diocletian window Diocletian windows, also called thermal windows, are large semicircular windows characteristic of the enormous public baths (''thermae'') of Ancient Rome. They have been revived on a limited basis by some classical revivalist architects in more m ...
surrounded by carved swags with a female face forming the centrepiece on top of the keystone. The whole of the ground floor is rusticated, including the concave, heavily recessed window surrounds in which tall round-arched windows are set. These windows have intricately carved keystones. A wide entablature forms separates the ground and first floors; above it, the windows are straight-headed and set below architraves with decorative keystones. Between each window is a slightly projecting panel. At the top of the building, a parapet runs around the whole building in front of the roof; it has balustraded sections in front of each dormer window. The dormers have distinctive architraves.


See also

* Grade II listed buildings in Brighton and Hove: N–O *


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:155-158 North Street, Brighton Office buildings completed in 1923 Neoclassical architecture in England Clayton & Black buildings Grade II listed buildings in Brighton and Hove Grade II listed banks Commercial buildings completed in 1923 NatWest Group