76 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[March, 



of the edifice presents nearly a square in elevation, and the shorter 

 about a square and two-thirds in height. Further, the ground is ir- 

 regular in form ; and a pediment being placed over the narrow side, 

 the obtuse angle on the one side, and tlie acute on the other, become 

 most painfully obvious; while the wall within the columns, being kept 

 at right angles to the long side, and therefore not parallel to its own 

 line of front, quickly calls attention to the irregularity of the plan. 

 The site is about yU feet by 33, and the interpilastered spaces are 

 two diameters or seven feet ; the order, which nearly follows the pro- 

 portion of the Jupiter Stator example, is raised on a plinth about four 

 feet in height, which latter is pierced for the basement windows ; 

 there are three tiers of openings in the height of the order, and the 

 whole exhibits the jiroportions indicated by the annexed sketches. 



Fig. 1.— Front Elevation. 



Fig. 2.— Side Elevation. 



The effect in perspective may be conceived, and I ask whether excel- 

 lence of detail could atone for such an outrage on architectural pro- 

 yiriety and taste as a temple-form structure like this, with three stories 

 in an order. This is an example of the effects of modern competition; 

 where the successful architect, having had bis design adopted in con- 

 sequence, it is said, of his private interest in the committee of ma- 

 nagement, has not only the advantage, as was understood at the time, 

 of examining those of his competitors, during the six weeks which 

 elapsed between the decision of the committee and the return of the 

 designs to their respective authors, but is permitted to expend about 

 twice the amount to which they were, in the first instance, limited, and 

 this for the purpose of producing a building which is a perfect bur- 

 lesque on all correct proportion. The execution is creditable to the 

 contractor, but in consequence of having a very poor plaster cast to 

 work from, the capitals are not at all like those of the example pro- 

 fessed to be followed. The Union Bank follows its Welsh neighbour 

 in Kder's list. I readily admit the beauty of the Ionic columns, in 

 which a leafy termination has been adopted for the flutes, somewhat 

 in the manner of those in the columns of the monument of Lysicrates. 

 The capitals of the antae are also original and tasteful, and the bases 



of both, in which an inverted ovolo is used in place of the upper torus, 

 are improvements on the common attic one ; a similar base has been 

 used by Mr. Foulston in the Plvmouth theatre. Beyond these details 

 I can discover nothing in this design at all commendable, nor bearing 

 the least trace of the t;>ste which seems to have dictated them. The 

 pediment is filled entirely by the convolutions of an immense motto 

 riband which Eder calls "bold;" would not impudent be a more 

 applicable term? The honeysuckle in the frieze is stiff and ungrace- 

 ful in the extreme, as are the carvings of foliage and tendrils which 

 occupy part of the panel within the columns. Let any one spend an 

 hour in looking over Stuart's Athens, or Inwood's Erechtheum, and 

 then, walking to this bank, say how much of Grecian character any of 

 these details exhibit. The ponderous truss which stops the cornice 

 at the end next the adjoining building, has a most cast-iron air, as have, 

 also the windows of both floors, and the square sham balustrade above 

 them. The lower vi'indows have pediments above a frieze, which is 

 separated from the architrave only by projecting about i of an inch 

 beyond it; while the architrave itself has its moulding sunk on its 

 inner margin, which may occasionally have a good effect in buildings 

 of rustic or unornate character, but seems much at variance w ith the 

 degree of enrichment which is affected in other parts of this building. 

 The dressings of the small square windows above these I consider 

 equally objectionable, for in them the fillet of the architrave alone is 

 broken into knees on every side, while the moulding itself follows the 

 line of the opening. This has a very paltry, poor effect. The pedes- 

 tals which divide the balustrades into lengths are panelled, and the 

 panels filled with flowers which bear a closer resemblance to tin tartlet 

 moulds with a knob in the middle, than anything else I can think of. 

 The carvings under the portico represent, I suppose, the ladies of the 

 three kingdoms just after the round tea-table has been removed ; with 

 a background exhibiting a steam-carriage in full cry along a viaduct 

 which appears to have no end, like the Irishman's rope, beneath 

 which ships are to be seen afloat in something like scale armour. 

 This piece of sculpture forms part of an amusing history. The panel 

 of which it now occupies the centre, was originally filled with foliage 

 and scroll work of similar character to that which now occupies its 

 ends; and the "illustration" of the principle of union was intrusted 

 to two feathered bipeds, who surmounted the pediment, and lugged, 

 each with one foot, at the ends of a cord which encircled what was 

 meant for a bundle of sticks, but bore more resemblance to part of a 

 reeded column. These notable fowls were said to be of the liver or 

 cormorant species; but were much more like, in their proportions and 

 plumage, to the ancient efligy of the supposed fabulous dodo. Short 

 was their reign in their exalted station: the Bank directors not, I sup- 

 pose, feeling flattered by the constant grins and broad jests of the 

 group of idle corn porters whom the novelty attracted to the opposite 

 corner, and the less obstreperous mirth of the more polished passen- 

 gers, deposed these eminent sea-birds, and substituted an acroterial 

 honeysuckle closely conforming to the metallic rigidity of character 

 exhibited by its brethren in the frieze, the foliage in the centre of the 

 pane! was cut away, the ladies above-mentioned soon made their 

 debut, and no doubt will enjoy a more permanent occupation than 

 their less fortunate predecessors. In closing my remarks on this 

 building, I must observe that, though the stone of which it is built is 

 excellent, and the execution likewise particularly good, the general 

 effect is far from agreeable, there being an angularity and hardness in 

 the details, and a general harshness of outline, which convey an im- 

 pression of repulsive coldness, and cause au entire want of that at- 

 tractive lively air which many buildings possess, without at all de- 

 tracting from that substantiality of expression which should charac- 

 terize a place of business, and most of all, a Bank. In closing my sub- 

 ject for the present, I can assure Eder, that as regards the Branch 

 Bank of England, I had rather have the credit of designing its street 

 front than the whole of the three joint stock banks he has noticed. 



I should have observed, with regard to the Union Bank, that it lays 

 claim to being a complete example of Greek character. I have no 

 hesitation in saying, that beyond the columns and antae there is not 

 the least ground for such, pretensions; but on the contrary, that in 

 common with other buildings aft'ecting Grecian details in this town — 

 with the exception of the pretty little model of the temple of Jupiter 

 Panhellenius, which stands above what was once a most picturesque 

 stone quarry, but has since been spoiled into St. James's Cemetery — 

 it is a glaring example of the inapplicability of that style to ordinary 

 modern uses, showing how completely its unity and simplicity of 

 character are destroyed when more than one height of openings is 

 required, and how impossible it is, by pretending to preserve the de- 

 tails in mouldings, and (save the mark!) in ornament, to overcome the 

 difference of expression which this and other equally wide departures 

 from ancient practice produce in the whole. Moreover, the frequent 

 fractures which mar the entablatures of our Anglo-Grecian buildings 



