Description

KINGTON

643-1/0/10003 BRIDGE STREET
17-SEP-02 Kington
(East side)
Kington Library, formerly the Old Radn
or Trading Company Headquarters

GV II

Offices and showroom. 1905, by C.S. Delfosse for the Old Radnor Lime, Roadstone and General Trading Company. Precast concrete; roof not visible. Clasical style. 2 storeys. Corner site, comprising 5 windows onto Duke Street and two onto Bridge Street. Plate-glass sashes. Balustraded parapet, with urns over panels to each bay division. Modillioned cornice. First floor has ashlar finish, and plate-glass sashes in moulded architraves. Moulded string with Greek key frieze over rusticated ground floor, the segmental arches over the windows having voussoirs and keyblocks with relief scrolls. Vermiculated quoins flank curved entrance bay to centre; double-leaf panelled doors set in Gibbs surround with vermiculated blocks and relief-moulded keyblock; blank parapet surmounted by pediment with date in tympanum. Ornamental air bricks. Interior: moulded cornicing and original joinery including panelled doors; walnut desk counter; etched glass with Greek key margins and central company logo.
History: this building occupies a pivotal corner site in the centre of this town. The Old Radnor Lime, Roadstone and General Trading Company, set up in 1875, acquired a strong reputation for the quality of their precast concrete, being awarded the gold medal at the National Trades Industrial Exhibition in 1897. Decorative precast concrete had been used on a limited scale since the mid 19th century, this being a particularly ornate example made to resemble granite.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Kington Library official website
• Wikidata Q26283277

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  ENGLAND GUIDE TO POST WAR LISTED: A Guide to Post-war Listed Buildings
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings