Description

WORCESTER

SO8455SE THE CROSS
620-1/12/600 (East side)
22/05/54 No.4
Premises occupied by
Lloyd's Bank

GV II

Bank. 1861-2, with later additions and alterations. C20 range
to rear not included. For the Worcester City and County
Banking Company Limited. Architect: Elmslie. Cotswold stone
ashlar over brick with concealed roof and red granite columns.
L-plan, Italian palazzo style. 3 storeys, 5 first-floor
windows. Quoins to full height. Cyma reversa moulded plinth.
Ground floor has deeply-cut rustication; moulded band over,
frieze and cornice which acts as first-floor sill band;
cornice over first floor acts as second-floor sill band;
cornice over second floor then frieze and modillion cornice;
balustrade has bulbous balusters. Central entrance: 2 pairs of
Doric columns each pair on shared plinth, frieze with
triglyphs and metopes; balustrade over with squared balusters;
double 6-panel doors with fanlight, pilasters and
cavetto-moulded arch with scroll motif, keystone mask with
castellated crown; shields and foliate decoration to
spandrels. Windows to either side are 1/1 horned sashes in
tooled surrounds and with outer pilasters with depressed
panels and cornices on scrolled corbels. First floor: French
casements and fanlights with tooled heads and central scrolled
keystones in aedicules with 3/4 engaged Doric columns, dentil
entablature and foliated spandrels; lower balustrades with
bulbous balusters. Second floor: plate glass casements with
cambered heads and eared and shouldered architraves with
scrolled keystones.
Returns: rustication and bands continue. Right return to The
Avenue: 4 first-floor windows. Off-centre right shallow bow.
Ground floor has similar windows but with three 1/1 sashes to
bow and rusticated arches over. Further entrance at left a
2-panel door with blind fanlight and rusticated surround.
First floor has casements with fanlights in similar aedicules,
except to bow a triple window in dentil pedimented surround.
Windows to second floor are similar to those on front facade.
INTERIOR: entrance hall retains tile floor; 6-panel double
doors with architrave and cornice on acanthus columns.
Panelling to walls, frieze with acanthus scrolls. Barrel
vaulted ceiling has ribs and panels. Otherwise ground floor
has lowered ceiling and
not inspected.
HISTORICAL NOTE: cost about 14,000. A fine example of a
commercial facade in this style. Forms part of a significant
roup of listed buildings at this city centre crossroads
together with Church of St Nicholas and Nos 20 and 21, The
Cross (qqv), together with Nos 11 and 12 Foregate (qqv). It
also has good group value with other listed buildings in The
Cross including Premises occupied by Costa and the Bradford
and Bingley Building Society (qqv), all forming an important
visual framework for this entrance to Worcester city centre.
Alternative map no: SO 8555 SW.
(The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Worcestershire:
Harmondsworth: 1968-1985: 331).

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26669600

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

• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)