About commercial buildings

As institutions were established to focus and concentrate social activities, so economic activity developed in parallel. Banks, warehouses, offices and shops were built in strategic locations in town centres. Many of these buildings could be exceptionally grand demonstrating the stability, wealth and power of the commercial company. Indeed, the centre of Huddersfield (the former Ramsden Estate) was especially developed as an area of grand commercial buildings.

The rich variety of Victorian and Edwardian commercial buildings with their high standards of sculpture and decoration are witness to the vigour of the nineteenth century economy. Commercial buildings were often built in the neo-Classical Italianate (Yorkshire Building Society) palazzo style or secular Gothic.

Conservation and design contacts

To speak to an officer about planning, conservation, trees or highways