Manual Ref* NFnrNOR002 Show 2 images 9
Title*

Architectural decoration - former Crown Bank
County Norfolk   District Council Norwich City Council 
Civil Parish or equivalent Norwich City Council  Town/Village* Norwich 
Road Agricultural Hall Plain 
Precise Location On the Agricultural Hall Plain, just before the Prince of Wales Road 
OS Grid Ref TG234085  Postcode NR1 
Previous location(s)  
Setting   Access Public 
Artist/Maker Role Qualifier
Barnabas Barrett  Stonemason(s)  and 
P. C. Hardwick  Architect(s)   

Commissioned by

  

Design & Constrn period

 1865 

Date of installing

 1866 

Exact date of unveiling

 1 January 1866 

Category
Abstract Animal Architectural
Commercial Commemorative Composite
Free Functional Funerary
Heraldic Military Natural
Non-Commemorative Performance Portable
Religious Roadside, Wayside Sculptural
Temporary, Mobile Other  

Object Type
Building Clock Tower Architectural
Coat of Arms Cross Fountain
Landscape Marker Medallion
Mural Panel Readymade
Relief Shaft Sculpture
Statue Street Furniture War Memorial
Other Object Sub Type: Architectural decoration

Subject Type
Allegorical Mythological Pictorial
Figurative Non-figurative Portrait
Still-life Symbolic Other

Subject Sub Type
Bust Equestrian Full-length
Group Head Reclining
Seated Standing Torso
Part Material Dimension
Relief on the top  Bath stone  H. 100 cm W. 300 cm 
Pillars with sculpted capitals  Bath stone  H. 600 cm 
Grilles of the fence on the first and second floor  Bath stone  H. 50 cm 

Work is
Extant Not Sited Lost

Owner/Custodian

 Not known 

Listing status
Grade I Grade II* Grade II Don't Know Not Listed

Surface Condition
Corrosion, Deterioration Accretions
Bird Guano Abrasions, cracks, splits
Biological growth Spalling, crumbling
Metallic staining Previous treatments
Other  
Detail: The sculpture has suffered from traffic pollution. Some of the pillars have been restored with lighter stone. Some biological growth on the steps to the entrance.

Structural Condition
Armature exposed Broken or missing parts
Replaced parts Loose elements
Cracks, splits, breaks, holes Spalling, crumbling
Water collection Other
Detail: The upper structure including the relief is protected with a net. Some of the pillars on the side of the building are in need of repair.

Vandalism
Graffiti Structural damage Surface Damage
Detail:

Overall condition
Good Fair Poor

Risk
No Known Risk At Risk Immediate
Signatures/Marks  
Inscriptions An inscription recording the architect. Also a brief history of the change of the custodianship from the Crown Bank- Norwich Head Post Office to Anglia Television (on the wall right side of the entrance). POST OFFICE just below the relief 

Description (physical)

 The exceptional stone cladding of the façade is matched by the Crown, more ornate and imposing than the three crowns shown on the shield at the top of the Bank’s five pound notes - those of St Edmund, standing for Suffolk, combined with Norwich’s coat of arms. Earlier in the decade Barnabas Barrett, who had settled in Norwich in 1855, had carved the fine doorway for the second Corn Exchange in Exchange Street.  

Description (iconographical)

 The pretensions of the crown chosen for his bank by Sir Robert John Harvey, 1st Baronet (1817- 1870) are underlined by the flanking thistle and Tudor rose – the heraldic flowers of England’s union with Scotland. This was further reflected in Harvey’s choice of an architect heavily involved in designing London banks and his appointment as 1st Baronet Harvey, in his rebuilding of Crown Point, Norfolk by H. E. Coe at the same time as the construction of the bank (NFsnTN001 for the gates). Crown point was acquired after Sir Robert's suicide in 1870 by J.J. Colman and from 1955 became the Whitlingham Hospital. Like other Norwich banks the Crown Bank succumbed to the banking crisis of the time, once it was discovered that Sir Robert had created a series of false accounts to underwrite his share speculation, which failed, leaving the bank with £1.6 million of debts against £1 million of assets. He committed suicide in 1870. The building was subsequently a post office, until 1969, the offices for Anglia Television from 1980 to 2005 and has now (2007) been converted to residential and office accommodation. Crown Point Hall 

Photographs

 Date taken:  15/6/2006
Date logged: 

Photographed by:
Sarah Cocke

On Site Inspection

 Date:  24/4/2006

Inspected by:
Liliana Erichesen and Yurika Konuma

Sources and References

 BOE I 302; Barrett, G.N., 'Barnabas Barrett, 1810-1883; Norwich Monumental Mason', Norfolk Archaeology, 43.3, 2000, 503-6; Ryan, R., 'Banking and Insurance' in Rawcliffe C. and Wilson R. eds, Norwich since 1550, Hambledon and London, 2004, 2, 373  

Database

 Date entered:  3/5/2006

Data inputter:
Richard Cocke