SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

This building was obviously a bank but which one and how old is it?

i cant make out the carvings on the top of the building. they could provide you with a pretty good clue

It was Lloyds TSB until not long ago....

And TSB before that!

This is such an unusual building - i'm always trying to get a good look at the statues but can't tell with my poor eyesight what they are - one looks like a tortoise!

the top statue looks like the same owl we see gilded in gold on in millenium square. i guess it was something else before it was a tsbedit: just checked on leodis and it was a Midland Bank before that, http://www.leodis.net/display.aspx?reso ... 5558719and that is 1915 so god knows what was before that!

You're right it was the Lloyds TSB and it closed last year. I think the cash machine round the corner is still there though!Who'd bet against it becoming a trendy winebar in the not too distant future?There used to be loads of banks in that corner of town - there was the oddly shaped Yorkshire Bank on the corner next to the Post Office (now an amusement arcade), the National Westminster a bit bit further down (another arcade) and the Midland (then HSBC) on Vicar Lane. There was also another bank / building society opposite the far corner of the Market too.

This place has been building work in progress for a good few months now. Does anyone know what's planned for it?

Judging by the planning application, another amusement arcade: https://publicaccess.leeds.gov.uk/onlin ... 0FZ00There must be a limit to how many an area can sustain, and there's loads round that bit of Kirkgate. Presumably there must be a demand for them or there wouldn't be any.