22 Bond Street, Dewsbury, Dewsbury, Kirklees

Summary

Former warehouse, now (2022) offices, 1867-1868, by William Thornton for the woolstapler Matthew Grandidge. C19 Italian Renaissance style.

Description

Former warehouse, now offices, 1867-1868, by William Thornton for the woolstapler Matthew Grandidge. C19 Italian Renaissance style.

MATERIALS: rock-faced millstone-grit 'bricks' with ashlar dressings to the front elevation, coursed millstone grit with ashlar dressings to the rear, and slate roof coverings.

PLAN: 22 Bond Street has a rectangular footprint aligned east-west in line with Bond Street and is flanked to each east and west side by adjoining buildings. The principal elevation faces south on to Bond Street and to the north the building is bounded by a yard area and an abutting building that fronts on to Croft Street.

EXTERIOR: externally the building is of a wide three bays and three storeys, plus a basement, with a hipped roof that is hidden from view when viewed from the ground. Due to the sloping ground level of Bond Street the basement is partially visible to the front elevation and the building has a raised ground floor.

Front (south) elevation: the front elevation has raised quoining to each outer edge and is set upon an ashlar plinth. All the windows contain plate-glass sashes and have segmental-arched heads and carved surrounds; the window surrounds to the ground and first floors are eared and shouldered and incorporate carved apron panels. The main entrance is set to the centre bay and consists of a tall doorway with a segmental-arched head set within a quoined surround with a keystone incorporating vermiculated rustication and bearing the date '1868' and the initials 'MG'. A folding four-panel door, which is recessed and accessed by stone steps, has an overlight above (painted over - internally a decorative metal grille behind the overlight is visible). The entrance is flanked to each side by tall paired windows separated by a carved mullion. Below each set of windows are two short, segmental-arched basement windows in the style of overlights, with recessed glazing and metal bars. The two upper floors have windows in a similar style, but slightly shorter and with carved sill bands below; those to the second floor have surrounds without ears and shoulders and half-H aprons instead. To the centre bay are single windows. To the top of the elevation is a deep dentilled eaves cornice, which hides the roof from view. The roof has two chimneystacks each to the east and west hips.

Rear (north) elevation: the rear elevation is constructed of coursed millstone grit with ashlar lintels and sills. It is also of three bays, but the right bay is concealed on the ground and first floors by a later adjoining building fronting onto Croft Street. To the centre of the ground floor is a doorway with a four-panel door and six-light overlight. To the left bay on each floor are a series of slightly recessed windows that appear to have been a loading bay originally; that to the ground floor is a six-light window, whilst those to the upper floors are mullioned sash windows. Single sash windows exist to the upper floors of the centre bay and the second floor of the right bay.

INTERIOR: internally partition walls have been inserted and the warehouse ceiling beams have been encased. Deep skirtings are present throughout, along with moulded door and window architraves, and some built-in cupboards. Doors on the upper floors are mainly modern replacements and include fire doors, but some late-C19 four-panel doors survive.

The ground floor has a central corridor with rooms off to each side and a stair located to the north-west corner. Simple moulded cornicing exists to the ground-floor spaces, and some of the partitioning on the ground floor dates to the late C20. Just inside the main entrance is a glazed timber screen forming a vestibule. A room to the ground floor left contains a large marble fire surround with a cast-iron insert and tiled cheeks and hearth, and a Lincrusta or Anaglypta dado. The main stair has a narrow open well, carved newel posts, turned balusters, and a cut string. The stair incorporates internal windows, although that on the first floor has been covered over. An enclosed timber basement stair is located to the centre left of the ground floor.

The late-C19 office layout of the ground floor can be observed on the first floor, which does not have later C20 partitioning. The rooms are slightly plainer in detail without dados and cornicing, but with picture rails instead. The two front first-floor rooms have fireplaces similar to that on the ground floor, but here the marble is painted.

The second floor has late-C19 and late-C20 partitioning and a spine corridor running east-west with rooms off to the front and rear. Contained within a room to the rear left (north-west corner) is a small enclosed mezzanine office/store accessed via a short flight of timber steps with an early linoleum covering incorporating a Greek-key patterned border. The office/store is accessed through a four-panel door and has a large internal window (partly covered up) to its east wall; both the door and window have a moulded architrave. Chimneybreasts survive and one of the front rooms retains a marble fireplace (unpainted) in the same style as those to the lower floors.

The basement is partitioned into separate spaces by late-C19/early-C20 brick walls and partly-glazed panelled partitions, forming store, toilet and office areas. Partly-glazed and solid panelled doors survive, and walls are a mixture of bare stone, brick and timber panelling. Currently (2022), slender structural supports have been installed to the rear right (north-east) space where original timber ceiling joists and beams are visible.

History

22 Bond Street was constructed in 1867-1868 as a warehouse for the woolstapler (a dealer who buys wool, sorts and grades it, and sells it on to a manufacturer) Matthew Grandidge to designs by a local architect William Thornton. Grandidge had previously commissioned a neighbouring warehouse at 20 Bond Street five years earlier, which was designed by another local architect, Charles Henry Marriott. It was later converted for office use and although the exact date of the conversion work is unknown, surviving features suggest that it was carried out in the late C19.

Reasons for Listing

22 Bond Street, Dewsbury, constructed in 1867-1868, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* it is a good example of a small-scale town-centre warehouse in Italian Renaissance/palazzo style, with a principal elevation originally designed to impress and convey the status and quality of the goods and business contained within;

* it retains numerous original and early interior features, including encased warehouse ceiling beams, deep skirtings, moulded cornicing and architraves, some panelled doors and built-in cupboards, fireplaces, and a late-C19 stair.

Historic interest:

* it is an important survival of a mid-C19 warehouse associated with Dewsbury's textile industry at the peak of its prosperity and success, and later adapted for commercial use.

Group value:

* it has strong group value with the other neighbouring listed former textile warehouses on Bond Street and neighbouring streets.

External Links

Historic England Listing

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.