4, St Martins, Leicester, City of Leicester

Summary

Former bank built in 1874 to the designs of Edward Burgess.

Description

Former bank built in 1874 to the designs of Edward Burgess.

MATERIALS: red brick laid in English bond with stone dressings and a slate roof covering.

PLAN: the building has a rectangular plan and occupies the corner of St Martins and Grey Friars. An extension of 1877 adjoins the western end facing St Martins.

EXTERIOR: the bank is in the Gothic style with asymmetrical elevations. It has two storeys under a steeply pitched roof and a splayed angle forming the entrance front. This contains double-leaf pointed arch wooden doors with studded fillets arranged as square panelling and Y-tracery above. The door is further embellished with ironwork forming a scroll and fleur-de-lis design. It is set within a heavy moulded pointed arch of three orders, on either side of which is a pair of attached columns surmounted by acanthus leaf capitals. A moulded stone canopy supported by curved brackets provides shelter over the entrance. Above this a stone tablet is engraved with the words SAVINGS BANK, along the top of which is a moulded stone string course that runs across the splayed corner. The corbelled first floor has a stone-coped gable flanked by round stone shafts with finials. Within the gable a round-arched stone panel is embellished with a shield and foliate design. Below this the first floor is lit by a two-light window in a blocked stone surround with a pilaster shaft to the mullion and a modillion string course above.

The right return on St Martins is lit on the ground floor by two large mullion and transom windows in blocked surrounds with a single-light window in the middle, all under a continuous hoodmould. The first floor has a gable to the right, flush with the wall, which bears the date stone 1874. It contains a pair of single-light transom windows, also in blocked stone surrounds, flanked by one on the right and two on the left. To the left again are three small windows in trefoil head surrounds. The adjoining 1877 extension to the right is similar in design but plainer. It has three storeys with stone string courses marking the storeys, and is three bays wide, the central gabled bay projecting slightly. The outer bays contain wooden doors with fillets which form panelling, and have rectangular overlights and blocked stone surrounds. The ground floor is lit by two single-light transom windows, and the first floor by a three-light mullion window with one-over-one pane sashes, flanked by single sash windows under a stone lintel. The second floor is lit by three windows under a continuous stone lintel.

The left return on Grey Friars is divided into two bays by wide stepped buttresses with stone banding across the lower half and a moulded string course above. The ground floor is lit by two large mullion and transom windows with moulded lintels. The first floor is lit by two Gothic arcaded four-light windows with moulded pointed arches and pilaster shafts surmounted by carved capitals.

INTERIOR: none of the original fixtures and fittings of the banking hall survive but it remains an impressive space. It has a moulded cornice and the ceiling is divided into three main areas by deep moulded ribs supported by shaped brackets. In the south-west corner a large coved lantern with paired moulded ribs is supported by a chamfered square column with capitals embellished by Tudor roses. A mezzanine has been inserted in this space in the early C21. Stone steps with iron rod balusters and a moulded handrail lead down into the basement which contains strong rooms with heavy security doors. One room is lined in white tiles and another has slate storage shelves with brick uprights. The upper floors were not inspected.

History

Leicester is one of the oldest settlements in England and its origins can be traced back at least to the Iron Age. There is significant remaining evidence of the Roman settlement particularly on the east bank of the River Soar where the bath house and palaestra at Jewry Wall represent the only standing remains of Ratae Corieltauvorum and one of the largest standing pieces of Roman civilian building in the country. However, there is little known of the settlement between the Roman departure and the medieval period.

In the Middle Ages, Leicester became an increasingly important urban centre. William the Conqueror ordered the construction of the first motte and bailey castle in the late C11. This was later rebuilt in stone and the great hall survives containing one of the finest medieval interiors in the country. The city became closely associated with Simon De Montfort who became the Lord of the Town in 1281, and one of the city’s two universities is named after him. The town also became closely linked to the royal family through the earldoms of Leicester and Lancaster, which were joined under one person, Robert Beaumont, in the late C14. This led to further expansion and prosperity in the late-middle and early-modern periods.

The town also became a focus for religious devotion, with an area next to the Castle known as the Newarke being the location for a collegiate church as well as other religious centres. After his death at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, the body of King Richard III was brought to the town and buried in the church of the Greyfriars, a Franciscan abbey which tradition has it had been founded by De Montfort in the late C13. Cardinal Thomas Wolsey died at Leicester Abbey in 1530 on his way to face trial in London and was buried there. Other major individuals to be associated with the city include Robert Dudley, who was made Earl of Leicester by Elizabeth I.

The church of Greyfriars was destroyed in 1538, after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The site was sold and a manor house built with an associated estate. Both the monastic buildings and the location of Richard’s tomb were lost by the late C17. The manor belonged to Alderman Robert Herrick and remained in the family until the early C18 when it was sold to Thomas Pares. The former Greyfriars precinct was then divided with a new thoroughfare, called New Street laid north to south across it. The street plan more generally continues to resemble that of the medieval borough, although street names have changed, with the boundaries of the precinct on the whole respected.

Throughout the early C18 the two parts of the estate were gradually parcelled and sold for development. It was in the Georgian period that the wider Greyfriars estate was developed, primarily as residences for the professional and polite classes. Many of the remaining buildings date to that period and are domestic in both scale and character. Industry did encroach at the fringes and commercial activities and industry such as hosiery appear on the 1888 map of the area. Latterly the area became the legal centre for Leicester and many of the buildings were converted into offices. The manor house was demolished in 1872 although its garden remained unencumbered of development, as did that of 17 Friar Lane. Both became car parks in the C20.

Leicester itself became an industrial centre following the construction of the Grand Union Canal, which linked the town to London and Birmingham at the end of the C18. By 1800 the population had reached over 17,000 and continued to grow throughout the C19. The first railway arrived in the 1830s and Leicester was linked to the mainline network by the 1840s, which allowed for significant industrial expansion. The major industries were textiles, hosiery and footwear. The size of Leicester increased dramatically at this time and many surviving medieval and early-modern buildings in the Greyfriars area were either replaced or refaced in brick. The C19 also saw the construction of several large schools in the area.

Although the city faced significant economic and social challenges in the C20 it remains a vibrant urban centre and is now known as one of the most culturally diverse cities in Britain. The Greyfriars area has been the focus of international attention and economic investment since the remarkable discovery of the remains of Richard III under a council car park in 2012 and his re-burial in the Cathedral in 2015. Resultant extensive research and archaeological investigation led to the Scheduling of the former monastic site in December 2017 (Schedule entry 1442955) and the renaming of the Guildhall/Cathedral Conservation Area to Greyfriars.

4 St Martins was built in 1874 as the Leicester Trustee Savings Bank which had been established in 1817. It was designed by Edward Burgess (1848-1929), one of Leicester’s most prominent architects of the period. He designed numerous schools in the city and six of the coffee houses, three of which are listed at Grade II. Burgess has a total of 13 listed buildings to his name.

The Leicester Trustee Savings Bank was described in Spencer’s Illustrated Guide to Leicester (1888) as follows: ‘The entrance is through a large stone arch, which leads by a smaller arch to a very spacious office, 50ft long by 30ft wide, with a floor of encaustic tiles, and a large lantern light. Adjoining this are the manager’s private room, and a small strong-room. The chief strong room is below, in the basement, and both are fitted with Milner’s fire and thief-proof doors. On the first floor is the board room, 33ft by 23ft … There are also apartments for the housekeeper, lavatories etc. The whole of the iron and brass work is by Skidmore, of Coventry, and the woodwork is stained oak.’ The bank proved to be very successful and grew rapidly. An extension was built on the west side in 1877 which was occupied by T C King & Co Painter and General Decorator. In 1925 the bank expanded into the extension and converted it into strong rooms, a caretaker’s house and an additional area of the banking hall.

In 1961 the bank was rebranded as the TSB and twenty years later the premises were taken over by the Bank of Ireland. This resulted in internal changes, including the division of the original banking hall into offices and the installation of false ceilings which obscured the lantern. The Bank of Ireland vacated the building in 2006. After this it remained unused until 2015 when it was converted into a delicatessen with three flats above which involved the removal of the partitions and false ceilings. The building is currently unoccupied (2019).

Reasons for Listing

4 St Martins, a former bank built in 1874 to the designs of Edward Burgess, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* it is an assured work by a highly regarded and versatile architect who made the most of the corner site to present finely proportioned elevations with a splayed gabled entrance bay distinguished by elaborate Gothic treatment;

* the stone detailing, notably on the arcade windows and the pointed arch doorway which is embellished by three orders and carved foliate capitals, demonstrates a high level of craftsmanship;

* it has a striking presence imbued with a gravitas entirely suitable for its original use as a bank;

* the spatial quality of the banking hall remains, as do the strong rooms in the basement with their heavy security doors which illustrate the building’s original use.

Historic interest:

* it is located within a significant historic townscape, developed on the north-east corner of the precinct to the C13 Franciscan friary known as Greyfriars and making a notable contribution to its rich architectural character and historic evolution.

Group value:

* it is surrounded by many designated assets with which it has strong group value, especially the scheduled Greyfriars to the west; the Grade II* listed St Martins Cathedral to the north-west; and, to the south, the Conway Buildings at 7 Greyfriars (offices built in 1878 by Stockdale Harrison), and the Barradale Offices at 5 Greyfriars (former architects’ office built 1878-1880 by Isaac Barradale), both Grade II listed commercial buildings by prominent local architects.

External Links

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