18 Bond Street, Dewsbury

Summary

Warehouse, 1871, for Simon Crawshaw Jr to designs by John Kirk & Sons, now (2022) a takeaway and residential flat above. C19 Italian Renaissance style.

Reasons for Designation

18 Bond Street, Dewsbury, constructed in 1871, 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 was designed by the notable local firm of John Kirk & Sons, which has a number of listed buildings to its name.

Historic interest:

* it is an important survival of a mid-late 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.

History

18 Bond Street was constructed in 1871 as a warehouse for Simon Crawshaw Jr and was built to the designs of the local architects' firm of John Kirk & Sons. Crawshaw & Sons were leather merchants who sold leather goods and also specialised in currying, which is the dressing, finishing and colouring of leather hides to make them strong, flexible and waterproof. They also produced drive belts for machinery and had a belting factory on nearby Union Street in Dewsbury town centre.

Details

Warehouse, 1871, for Simon Crawshaw Jr to designs by John Kirk & Sons, now a takeaway and residential flat above. C19 Italian Renaissance style.

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

PLAN: 18 Bond Street has a rectangular footprint 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 the rear of a building fronting on to Croft Street.

EXTERIOR: externally the building is tall and relatively narrow and is of three bays and three storeys plus 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 and there is a raised ground floor.

Front (south) elevation: the front elevation incorporates pilasters to each outside edge that run up the full height of the building and are topped by carved kneelers projecting beyond the eaves. The raised ground floor has ashlar facings and incorporates three tall round-arched openings, each with a shaped and fluted keystone and carved intrados, and separated by engaged antae (square columns), giving the appearance of an arcade. The column bases continue down to street (partial basement) level where the stonework is rusticated. The left arched opening forms the main entrance with a very tall doorway that rises between the basement and the ground floor and has modern glazed doors. The two right bays have openings with shaped heads to the basement level; that to the far right has timber loading doors to the lower part, and that to the centre has been blocked up and ventilators inserted. Above, the round-arched ground-floor windows have replaced plate-glass glazing and solid tympanums. Separating the ground and first floors is a substantial stringcourse. To the first floor there are three tall plate-glass sash windows (with replaced obscured glazing) with shaped heads set within shouldered ashlar surrounds and a sill band below. The second-floor windows are shorter and have shouldered ashlar surrounds, carved half-H aprons incorporating a sill band, and replaced glazing. Above and below the second floor are narrow stringcourses. To the top of the elevation is a dentilled eaves and the roof itself, which has two later isnerted skylights, is hidden from view.

Rear (north) elevation: the rear elevation is of two-bays and is of red brick with sandstone dressings in the form of sills and lintels. Two ground-floor window openings have been altered and partly bricked up and a later doorway inserted, but original lintels survive. One of the first-floor window openings has also been partially bricked up to form a smaller window, but the original two-over-two sash window survives to the left. The second-floor windows are casements. A modern commercial extractor pipe/flue is attached to the left side of the elevation.

Sources

Websites
Dewsbury Draft Conservation Area Appraisal, accessed 15 February 2022 from https://www.kirklees.gov.uk/beta/regeneration-and-development/pdf/dewsbury-town-centre.pdf
Other
'West Dewsbury, Kirklees, West Yorkshire: Historic Area Assessment', produced by LUC for Historic England, 2018

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