Tea, tiles and banking

Opposite the Royal Courts of Justice in The Strand you will find this magnificent entrance to believe it or not -a bank.




























You might easily walk past the glass doors thinking it was just an ordinary bank but once inside it is a feast for the eyes. Needless to say, this building did not start life as a bank but as a hotel -The Palsgrave. Built in 1883 it was decorated with Doulton tiles (see previous post here).



Above this flying fish you can see the flamboyantly styled letter P, a reminder of its previous life as The Palsgrave Hotel. All around the entrance there are tiles depicting animals, plants and figures.

The tiles were decorated by John McLennan who had worked for the Doulton Pottery factory for 33 years starting in 1877 at the age of 17.

In 1825 Twinings (the famous tea company) diversified into finance. needing more space The Twinings shop,which is next door to the bank eventually took over the Hotel next door and converted it into a bank. It was in 1892 that the bank merged with Lloyds but there was still a Mr Twining as manager until 1917 when he retired.

Sharing with James at Weekend Reflections