74-76 Kingsland High Street, E8

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This handsome and prominent Victorian building is sited on the corner of Kingsland High Street and Winchester Place. On the northern elevation there is a decorative date plate which reads ‘LCB 1891’. It seems to have been purpose-built as a bank for the London and County Banking Company. Established in 1836 it was the largest British bank in 1875. In 1909 it merged with the London and Westminster Bank to become the London County and Westminster Bank – a forerunner of the National Westminster Bank (NatWest Bank), which still remains on the ground floor of the building. This vibrant red-brick building is Neo-Georgian in style and has a symmetrical design to the principal façade and is accentuated with rusticated stone detailing and arched openings to the ground floor, and Classical features such as the pediments and scrollwork over the second floor windows.

Neo-Georgian

Victorian (1838-1901)

bank

This is a good example of late Victorian architecture, which makes this building distinctive amongst its predominantly earlier Victorian neighbours on the high street.