No 2 Hill Street

Property name
2 Hill Street
Other names
Midland Bank
Location
Hill Street, St Helier
Type of property
Built as a warehouse, then partly rebuilt c1891 as a bank; now finance company offices
Valuations
No recent transactions
Families and businesses associated with the property
Almanac listings
- 1886-1890: Major Godfray. Old Bank. Wine merchants
- 1895: Channel Island Bank
- 1900: London and Midland Bank
- 1905-2007: London City and Midland Bank; later Midland Bank. E Gallichan
Census returns
- 1851-1861: Richard Le Gallais, 47, master cabinet maker, wife Susan, 44; Amelia, Charles, Horatio, Alfred, Francis, Alice and Julia. No residential census returns after 1861
Historic Environment Record entry
Listed building
This most unusual Edwardian building frontage is constructed in the most part with the very best materials, giving a high visual impact to the street. Built circa 1910 as a bank. [1]Four-bay frontage has granite ashlar finish, with Brutalistic interpretation of Renaissance elements. All windows are modern bronzed units. Fronted by unusual heavy granite piers and matching balustrade. The recent roof level extension has detracted from its design integrity. To the rear is an earlier warehouse, mid-19th century, which is of historical interest as a rare survivor of the warehouses that were once characteristic of the 19th century harbour area of St Helier.
The warehouse was originally owned by the Godfray family, who had commercial premises on the site as early as 1805. Charles Godfray sold the property to the Channel Islands Bank in 1891 but continued to rent rooms at the rear of the bank premises for his wine trade. London and Midland Bank acquired the property in 1897 and operated there until 2007.
The warehouse retains its characteristic massing with an interesting, heavily framed internal construction. It has mixed rubble granite walls with quoins. It is three-bay with central wide hoist openings flanked by windows - each with finely dressed stonework of an unusual arch chamfered pattern similar to the windows at Fort Regent. The roof is slate with a hipped front slope. The interior is set out over four floors. There is a pair of finely constructed granite and brick vaulted cellars. The ground and first floors are open plan with timber posts and beams, with simple chamfered edges and stops, carrying sturdily joisted floors above - there has been some remodelling of the ground floor. The second floor has an exposed timber king post roof truss carried on full width beams. The warehouse has been partially rebuilt on the north-east corner including the apparent removal of an internal staircase.
Notes and references
- ↑ The photograph at the top of the page, which is dated 1897, shows the building much as it is in the 21st century. This suggests that the 1910 date quoted here is wrong, and that the bank building was constructed shortly after the 1891 sale


