10-12 Bank Quay

Cadw's description

Location

A detached building midway along the street and opposite the Town Wall.

History

Said to have been built in 1833 and first shown on the 1834 and 1852 town maps as Williams & Co Bank. The premises had ceased to be a bank by 1888.

Exterior

A late Georgian style former bank, square in plan, of 3 storeys and 4 bays. Walls are scribed roughcast (painted to the main elevations) and a hipped slate roof is on wide bracketed eaves, with roughcast stack behind the ridge. The slates are partly renewed but retain some original large thick slates. In the lower storey is a doorway in the R-hand bay which retains its Tuscan pilasters but the original pediment has been removed. It has double fielded-panel doors and replaced plain semi-circular overlight. The other ground-floor bays have round-headed moulded architraves with part fluted pilasters and panelled tympana, to replaced windows with sill band. A 2-bay projection on the L side has a similar window retaining Tuscan pilasters but not its original head. Further L are double boarded doors under a segmental overlight.

The middle and upper storeys of the main range have moulded keyed architraves with sill bands, 12-pane hornless sashes in the middle storey and 9-pane hornless sashes in the upper storey. The projection on the L side has a 4-pane sash window upper L with a similar architrave. On the R side is a 1½-storey gabled wing with sliding wide boarded doors beneath an inserted attic window.

The L side wall of the main range has 12-pane and 9-pane sash windows L of the 2-storey projection. The 3-window rear has sash windows similar to the front.

Interior

The main entrance leads into a vestibule with late C19 detail. It has glazed and relief moulded tiles to the dado, and a half-lit panel door with flanking panels, incorporating etched glass. The vestibule leads into a stair hall with bracketed ceiling cornice, and a full-height open-well stair with plain balusters and moulded tread ends. Most rooms have panelled doors and panelled shutters, while some retain fireplaces with panelled chimneypieces.

Reason for designation

Listed as a prominent and well-preserved C19 commercial building retaining original character and contributing to the strong Georgian tradition of Caernarfon buildings.