87574

 

II  

Designated  

20/10/2008  

20/10/2008  

Former Post-Office, including gates to service yard  

 

Gwynedd  

Bangor  

Bangor  

 

258058  

372215  

 

Prominently sited on Deiniol Road, on the junction with Ffordd Gwynedd.  

Commercial  

 

After early days in premises "like a dilapidated pigeon-house" in the mid 19th century, the post office in Bangor acquired purpose-built premises for the first time in 1883. The present building dates from 1909, and its scale and architectural quality is indicative of the rise in the fortunes of Bangor since receiving its charter of incorporation in 1883. Its location may also point to one of the keys to its development - the establishment of the University College.  

Glazed brick with ashlar dressings and slate roofs behind high parapets. Flamboyant Edwardian free-style. Balanced asymmetry to main elevation to Deiniol Road of 1-1-3-3-3-1 bays. 2-bay returns, with additional 3-bay wing to Ffordd Gwynedd. The main façade is articulated by the bold ashlar dressings, comprising a deep plinth, moulded string course over ground-floor, plain sill band to second floor, projecting modillion cornice and ribbed and panelled blocking course. Advanced bays towards each end further emphasised by steep pediments and ashlar to quoins and ground floor which has tripartite window recessed in shallow archway. Tiered architraves to upper windows, comprising mullioned and transomed window with scrolled apron and modillion cornice to first floor, and stone mullioned window with panelled apron and modillions to sill above. The right-hand bay is balanced by another on the elevation to Ffordd Gwynedd, and both flank the angled corner which contains the main entrance: segmentally arched doorway flanked by sinuous pilasters capped by ball finials on capitals. Canted oriel window in ashlar stonework above, and cartouche in parapet. Secondary entrance to the right, and paired windows above. Simpler 3-bay wing stepped down to right. Deiniol Road elevation has advanced central section of 3 bays, with doorway to left, arched window at centre, and mullioned and transomed window to its right. Stone mullioned and transomed windows to first floor - the outer windows with deep segmental heads; plainer windows to second floor. Elsewhere, ground-floor windows are mullioned and transomed, but upper windows are 12-pane sashes in lugged stone architraves with segmental arches and keystones to first floor, plain architraves to second floor. Return to left-hand side has side entrance in ornate tripartite architrave, inscribed with "County Court" above the doorway. Cast-iron gates and railings to service yard: the gates with star motifs above the dog and upper bars.  

Altered internally with some subdivision of original spaces at ground floor, and the introduction throughout of suspended ceilings, which may conceal original plaster-work detail. Layouts on upper floors have survived better, but with surviving detail. Part of the main staircase survives, and there is a good secondary staircase at left (SE) end, accessed originally from the side entrance to the court offices; cantilevered stair with swept rail, plain iron balusters, and turned posts.  

Listed as a fine example of Edwardian free-style architecture, with a rich vocabulary of detail. An impressive example of a large-scale post-office building underscoring the importance of Bangor in the early 20th century.