Co-op Bank, Albert Hall Building, High Street, Colchester
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Co-op Bank, Albert Hall Building, High Street, Colchester by Jo and Steve Turner as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Co-op Bank, Albert Hall Building, High Street, Colchester
Image: © Jo and Steve Turner Taken: 19 Jun 2017
Grade II Listed Bank built 1845 by Raphael Brandon (builder Henry Hammond Hayward), as a Corn Exchange, much of it reconstructed in 1925-6. Top centre of the façade was once an allegorical sculpture of Ceres "scattering round her the produce of an abundant harvest" that had to be removed. The two windows at each end were once alcoves with reliefs, possibly of Ceres, that were re-sited at a car park on nearby Balkerne Hill. In 1885 it became the premises of the newly founded Albert School of Science and Art, probably when the sculptures were removed. The government took management of the school in 1894 and made further changes. Developed into a technical institute it moved into new premises in 1912. The Colchester Repertory Company put on weekly productions here from 1937 after it was converted to an assembly room for concerts in 1925. This arrangement lasted until 1972.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
51.889659
Longitude
0.896975