Chapter 4 of 121839–1841

£2,850 and the architect’s own pocket

According to the Survey’s reading of Noble’s letter-books, building began “about the middle of May 1839”, and the exterior was largely complete by the end of the year.1 Survey of London vol. 46, p. 82, para [p80] and fn. 48. The CEAJ’s notice of August 1839 still described the building as “about to be erected”, so the May start rests on the Survey alone (CEAJ vol. II, p. 317; the issue date is confirmed by the running head of the facing page and the weekdays of the “ult.” dates on p. 317). In January 1840 Webb and Co., builders of St John’s Lane, took out a fire policy on the “Finsbury New Savings Bank in Seckford Street Clerkenwell”.2 The London Archives, Sun Fire Office policy MS 11936/570/1320052, 13 January 1840 (TNA Discovery, https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/9a226a2c-436e-47d5-996a-1edcdb56ab14): “Messrs Webb and Co, St Johns Lane West Smithfield, builders”. Catalogue entry only; the register was not seen. They were probably Robert and George Webb of 24 St John’s Lane (Sun Fire policies MS 11936/570/1304313, 27 May 1839, and MS 11936/569/1328627, 19 May 1840), but the policy does not say that they were the contractor.

Money was short. In July 1840 the CEAJ printed an engraving of the front and complained that “The sum allowed for the erection of this building was only £2850”. Size for size, that was less than half the cost of any other savings bank in London. As a result the bank was “neither built externally of the materials, nor finished internally in the style, which the architect of it desired”.3 CEAJ (July 1840), p. 217: “The sum allowed for the erection of this building was only £2850, which, taking into consideration its size, is not 50 per cent. upon the ratio of cost of any other of the savings’ banks of the metropolis; the consequence is, that it is neither built externally of the materials, nor finished internally in the style, which the architect of it desired …”. “All the proportions of this building,” it added, “have suffered from retrenchment”. The £2,850 was an allowance, not a final account; no final cost is known. The article is unsigned, and it reads as the architect’s case; the committee’s reasons are not recorded.4 This is an inference from the text of CEAJ (July 1840), p. 217; the article carries no signature. Bartholomew paid for part of the external decoration himself.5 The Survey takes the other side: “Probably the bank committee’s regard for economy saved the building from decorative excess”.6 Survey of London vol. 46, p. 82, para [p81]. The sentence continues: “the stuccoed Italianate façade was certainly less ornate than Bartholomew wanted”. This is the Survey’s opinion.

“The sum allowed for this building was so restricted, that the architect chose to be at some part of the expense of the external decorations of it, rather than suffer it to undergo farther mutilation.”

The Civil Engineer and Architect’s Journal, July 18405 CEAJ (July 1840), p. 217 (two scans agree on “farther”). The Survey of London’s paraphrase (vol. 46, p. 82, para [p81]) misquotes it as “further mutilation”.

The work dragged on. In July 1840 “The external cornices and chimneys are not yet finished”, and a dispute between the committee and the contractor caused more delay. Noble did not find “our Savings Bank in full operation” until April 1841. The bank’s archive gives the date of the move as 5 April.7 CEAJ (July 1840), p. 217; Survey of London vol. 46, p. 82, para [p80] and fn. 48 (the contractor is not named, and no other source mentions the dispute); Archives Hub GB 386 TC/45 (as chapter 2, note 1): “On 5 April 1841 the bank moved premises to Sekforde Street” (no source is given for the day). Other sources differ: W. J. Pinks (1881), p. 177, has the bank “removed in the year 1840” (https://archive.org/details/b24863944), and the Survey’s chapter on St John’s Square (p. 138, para [p116]) gives “1841–2”. The Post Office London Directory for 1841 (p. 805), compiled in 1840, already lists the bank “between 18 & 21 Sekford st.” The front reads ERECTED A.D. 1840, but the building took from 1839 to 1841.8 Survey of London vol. 46, p. 82, summary table (“No. 18½. 1839–41. Finsbury Savings Bank. Alfred Bartholomew, architect”); Historic England list entry 1209479 (“Dated 1840 in ground floor fascia”).

Notes

Survey of London vol. 46, p. 82, para [p80] and fn. 48. The CEAJ’s notice of August 1839 still described the building as “about to be erected”, so the May start rests on the Survey alone (CEAJ vol. II, p. 317; the issue date is confirmed by the running head of the facing page and the weekdays of the “ult.” dates on p. 317).
The London Archives, Sun Fire Office policy MS 11936/570/1320052, 13 January 1840 (TNA Discovery, https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/9a226a2c-436e-47d5-996a-1edcdb56ab14): “Messrs Webb and Co, St Johns Lane West Smithfield, builders”. Catalogue entry only; the register was not seen. They were probably Robert and George Webb of 24 St John’s Lane (Sun Fire policies MS 11936/570/1304313, 27 May 1839, and MS 11936/569/1328627, 19 May 1840), but the policy does not say that they were the contractor.
CEAJ (July 1840), p. 217: “The sum allowed for the erection of this building was only £2850, which, taking into consideration its size, is not 50 per cent. upon the ratio of cost of any other of the savings’ banks of the metropolis; the consequence is, that it is neither built externally of the materials, nor finished internally in the style, which the architect of it desired …”. “All the proportions of this building,” it added, “have suffered from retrenchment”. The £2,850 was an allowance, not a final account; no final cost is known.
This is an inference from the text of CEAJ (July 1840), p. 217; the article carries no signature.
CEAJ (July 1840), p. 217 (two scans agree on “farther”). The Survey of London’s paraphrase (vol. 46, p. 82, para [p81]) misquotes it as “further mutilation”.
Survey of London vol. 46, p. 82, para [p81]. The sentence continues: “the stuccoed Italianate façade was certainly less ornate than Bartholomew wanted”. This is the Survey’s opinion.
CEAJ (July 1840), p. 217; Survey of London vol. 46, p. 82, para [p80] and fn. 48 (the contractor is not named, and no other source mentions the dispute); Archives Hub GB 386 TC/45 (as chapter 2, note 1): “On 5 April 1841 the bank moved premises to Sekforde Street” (no source is given for the day). Other sources differ: W. J. Pinks (1881), p. 177, has the bank “removed in the year 1840” (https://archive.org/details/b24863944), and the Survey’s chapter on St John’s Square (p. 138, para [p116]) gives “1841–2”. The Post Office London Directory for 1841 (p. 805), compiled in 1840, already lists the bank “between 18 & 21 Sekford st.”
Survey of London vol. 46, p. 82, summary table (“No. 18½. 1839–41. Finsbury Savings Bank. Alfred Bartholomew, architect”); Historic England list entry 1209479 (“Dated 1840 in ground floor fascia”).