18 Park Row, Leeds, once known as Abtech House and more recently as Kenneth Hodgson House, is a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

building in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England. The building on the east side of

Park Row, Leeds Park Row is a street in Leeds city centre, West Yorkshire, England. It divides the main financial districts from the main retail districts and forms a spine between City Square, Leeds, City Square and The Headrow, two of Leeds' most sought-afte ...

was built as offices for the West Riding Union Bank.

Description

The building was designed in the late 19th century by the Leeds architect Edward John Dodgshun, from the firm Oliver and Dodgshun. An illustration was published on page 28 of the ''Academy Architecture and Architectural Review'', volume 21, published in 1902. Tt is constructed from stone ashlars, with four bays, and projecting entrances in the left and right bays. It has four stories, and was altered in the 20th century to add a fifth floor in the attic under a slate roof. The ground floor façade is decorated with a strapwork pattern in red granite. Between the ground and first floors is a deep relief stone frieze designed by architect Joseph Thewlis, with has a central seated figure of

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

as the goddess of commerce holding a globe and a caduceus, flanked by rectangular panels depicting scenes of colonial trading to either side. To the left is a panel with two workmen unloading a ship, a boy with a barrel, a man with a book, a black man carrying a bale, an East Asian man gesturing, and a man in Middle Eastern headdress and robes carrying a basket. To the right are two men in Native American feather headdresses, and others working to build a railway. Further relief carvings above each entrances show, to the left, the coat of arms of Leeds (fleece with three stars in chief) supported by two women and, to the right, the coat of arms of

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

(chevron with three towers, between three sheep) supported by two men. Either side of the four windows on the first floor are panels with five further carved municipal coats of arms:

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

(liver bird),

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, ...

(owls and cross in chief),

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

(sailing ship in chief), Bury (quarters with anvil, fleece, shuttles, papyrus), and Preston (lamb of god). Grand order pilasters rise through the second and third floors to Corinthian capitals with a

modillion A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a Cornice (architecture), cornice which helps to support them. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally transl ...

cornice above, with blank curved panels below the second floor windows which were originally intended to be carved to show the four words "West Riding Union Bank", and further carved panels of curvilinear dragons below the third floor windows.

History

The building was not completed until after the West Riding Union Bank had been acquired by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank in 1902. After another merger in 1928, the building continued as a branch of the Bank of Liverpool and Martins, but closed in 1933 (as there was already a branch of

Martins Bank Martins Bank was a London private bank, trading for much of its time under the symbol of "The Grasshopper", that could trace its origins back to Thomas Gresham and the London goldsmiths, from which it developed into a bank known as Martin's Bank ...

diagonally opposite, on the west side of the road at 28 Park Row, in a building is also a Grade II listed; it was later a branch of

Barclays Bank Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services ...

, and is now a

Wetherspoons J D Wetherspoon (branded variously as Wetherspoon or Wetherspoons, and colloquially known as Spoons) is a British pub company operating in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 by Tim ...

public house named after another local bank, Beckett's Bank, which became part of

Westminster Bank Westminster Bank was a British retail bank which operated in England and Wales. It was created in 1834 as the London and Westminster Bank. It merged with the London and County Bank in 1909, after which it renamed itself the London County and W ...

in 1921.) In the early 20th century, upper parts of the building were also occupied by the architects FJ Sharr, and by firm of architects who designed the building, Oliver and Dodgshun. Towards the end of the 20th century, it was offices for the Blue Arrow employment agency, and the ground floor is now The Bootlegger Cocktail Bar, with a dental practice in the basement. It was renamed in 2013 after businessman Kenneth Hodgson, whose company Westcourt acquired the building in 2012. It became a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

in 1976. File:Abtech House, 18 Park Row, Leeds - detail (5496414729).jpg, Detail of carving: Minerva File:Abtech House, 18 Park Row, Leeds - detail (5518475056).jpg, Detail of carving: arms of Leeds File:Liverpool and Martin's Bank, Park Row, (west side) Leeds - geograph.org.uk - 1394854.jpg, 28 Park Row in 2007

References

*
Martins Bank Limited – Leeds Branches: 11-421 Leeds Park Row

Victorian Web
Leeds Architecture: The Devil Is In the Details

West Riding Union Bank, Park Row, Leeds

Building tribute to man behind Westcourt
''Yorkshire Post'', 2 May 2013 {{coord, 53.79887, -1.54681, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Grade II listed buildings in Leeds