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Castle Street, LIVERPOOL, L69 2QB

During the second half of the C19th, Castle Street was colonised by banks and insurance companies, each trying to outdo the others "in the splendour of their offices". This striking facade of granite, grey and cream marble and red terracotta dressings dates from 1898-1901 and was the work of Richard Norman Shaw, with Willink & Thicknesse. Grade II* listed. It's currently Natwest Bank.

Nearly all the buildings in this photo are Grade II listed.

Set into the western footpath of Castle Street, a nearby plaque states that this is one of few surviving surface remnants of the city’s medieval past. It is believed to be one of the boundary markers for Liverpool’s fairs, which were first mentioned in 1292. It was re-set into the pavement outside the NatWest Bank in 2011. It is not separately listed but is within the city centre World Heritage Site.

An array of eateries and other businesses occupy these late nineteenth-century office buildings, all of which are Grade II listed. List entries (from right to left): Former Midshires Building Society: https://www.historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1068337 Former Cheltenham and Gloucester Building Society: https://www.historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1280470 10-18 Castle Street: https://www.historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1356310

The Town Hall was built in 1754 from a design by John Wood. Seen here from Castle Street.

During the second half of the C19th, Castle Street was colonised by banks and insurance companies, each trying to outdo the others "in the splendour of their offices". This fine show for the Scottish Equitable Chambers, c1878, makes extensive use of polished granite, and gets stripier as it rises. Grade II listed.

A pizzeria and bar situated on Castle Street Liverpool. Fantastic food, friendly staff and a novel thing - where the children can design, order and then build their own pizza after which they take to the kitchen to see it being cooked. VFM!

During the second half of the C19th, Castle Street was colonised by banks and insurance companies, each trying to outdo the others "in the splendour of their offices". This dignified facade dates from 1846, before the Victorians had fully sunk their claws into the traditions of their Georgian forebears. Four fluted Corinthian columns crowned by a pediment with a carved tympanum. The architect was probably Arthur Holme. Grade II listed. Built for lawyer and developer Ambrose Lace, it stood empty at the time of the photo.

The building stands at 3-5 Castle Street. The whole building is in terra cotta and red brick, the work of Grayson, of the architectural partnership of Grayson and Ould (who were also responsible for the next building along, once the Queen Insurance Building), and was put up in 1888-1890. The building decoration, includes moulded sculptural ornament in terra cotta, and, less usually, a mosaic frieze. This latter consists of three long, narrow panels above the first floor, and to left and right of these, triangular panels next to the bases of the projecting bay windows. The central panel shows the company name on a twisted ribbon, with the flags of Liverpool and England to left and right. The panels to left and right show shipping. That to the left shows two sailing ships and a grand ocean liner to the left, with a sunrise in the background; that to the right has three more ancient boats, including a galleon. All three panels have much gold mosaic in the background, to help light up the thin panels. The triangular panels, sort of upside down spandrels, as it were, contain dolphins in Roman style. According to http://www.speel.me.uk/sculptplaces/lpoolcastlest3.htm the type of mosaic, with its varied and bright colours, can only be Venetian smalti, and given the date, we may reasonably ascribe them to the firm of Salviati. The designer of the pictures signs one of the larger panels; he is Frank Murray, and he made them in 1889.

Celebrity chef Gino D'Acampo's Liverpool restaurant embraces two adjacent but startlingly different former Midland Bank buildings. Both are Grade II listed. The Modernist no.4 Dale Street was designed in 1967 and constructed c1971, by Raymond Fletcher of Bradshaw, Rowse & Harker of Liverpool https://www.historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1419347 The red brick 1880s building (no.1 Castle Street) is by E.Salomons https://www.historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1356307