rushden post office (1940)
College Street
Photograph © Project Rushden
|
Architect
Archibald Bulloch Year 1940 Selected bibliographical references http://www.rushdenheritage.co.uk/commerce/PostOffice.html Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph 17 May 1939, p. 7 Rushden Echo and Argus 30 Aug 1940 History Opened: 26 Aug 1940 Closed Current use: Youth centre ("Rushden Youth Project") |
Building description
From: The Rushden Echo and Argus, 30th August 1940
In the sorting office Rushden’s new post office, opened to the public on Monday, looks ahead 20 years in its capacity to handle an expansion of business. It also provides against more immediate problems, for a portion of the upper floor has been strengthened with a concrete slab through which, it is said, a bomb could not penetrate. War conditions ruled out a formal opening, but a few visitors, headed by the Chairman of the Council (Mr. J. Allen, J.P.), inspected the premises on Monday afternoon. They soon realised that the new building, though less ornate than the one now left deserted a few yards away, is much larger and offers more convenience on both sides of the counter. The customer even sits down to write his telegram ... Like many other post offices, Rushden’s is designed in a modern rendering of the Georgian style and “carried out with due regard to the amenities of the district and the traditions of the neighbourhood.” Multi-coloured facing bricks with stone dressings have been used for the unobtrusive exterior. The public office is 24 feet square, which means, in comparison with the old office, a longer counter, more space behind it, and much more room on the public side, where the row of chairs and the writing stall built at chair height proclaim the G.P.O. in its most human mood ... One of the modern touches about the green-topped counter is the building-in of the parcels weighing machine so that the platform is all but flush with the surface. There isn’t much lifting to do. Parcels and packets go quickly out of sight down chutes, and telegrams disappear through a hatch. There is no need to worry about the further progress of the telegram, for a bell rings automatically when the hatch is opened, and someone has to pay attention ... The maddening spectacle of a lady clerk sucking a pencil and ignoring a queue of customers is now, it appears, a thing of the past. The girl behaving so heartlessly – so it seemed – in the old office was balancing her accounts. She was really off duty, but had no place of seclusion in which to check her takings. In the new office she merely removes the loose inner shell of her own metal stamp drawer and carries it off – cash and everything – into a quiet balance room. All being O.K., as usual, she slides her drawer into her own compartment of the big safe and locks it up with her own exclusive key – all this without a single customer having soured his soul ... Another point about the public office is the excellent lighting. The floor is laid in terrazzo work and the walls are oak panelled ... Messrs. H. C. Janes, of Luton, were the general contractors for the building. Mr. A. Bulloch, of H.M.O.W. was the architect in charge of the building works, and Mr. W. H. Hooson, also of H.M.O.W., was engineer in charge of the heating installation.
In the sorting office Rushden’s new post office, opened to the public on Monday, looks ahead 20 years in its capacity to handle an expansion of business. It also provides against more immediate problems, for a portion of the upper floor has been strengthened with a concrete slab through which, it is said, a bomb could not penetrate. War conditions ruled out a formal opening, but a few visitors, headed by the Chairman of the Council (Mr. J. Allen, J.P.), inspected the premises on Monday afternoon. They soon realised that the new building, though less ornate than the one now left deserted a few yards away, is much larger and offers more convenience on both sides of the counter. The customer even sits down to write his telegram ... Like many other post offices, Rushden’s is designed in a modern rendering of the Georgian style and “carried out with due regard to the amenities of the district and the traditions of the neighbourhood.” Multi-coloured facing bricks with stone dressings have been used for the unobtrusive exterior. The public office is 24 feet square, which means, in comparison with the old office, a longer counter, more space behind it, and much more room on the public side, where the row of chairs and the writing stall built at chair height proclaim the G.P.O. in its most human mood ... One of the modern touches about the green-topped counter is the building-in of the parcels weighing machine so that the platform is all but flush with the surface. There isn’t much lifting to do. Parcels and packets go quickly out of sight down chutes, and telegrams disappear through a hatch. There is no need to worry about the further progress of the telegram, for a bell rings automatically when the hatch is opened, and someone has to pay attention ... The maddening spectacle of a lady clerk sucking a pencil and ignoring a queue of customers is now, it appears, a thing of the past. The girl behaving so heartlessly – so it seemed – in the old office was balancing her accounts. She was really off duty, but had no place of seclusion in which to check her takings. In the new office she merely removes the loose inner shell of her own metal stamp drawer and carries it off – cash and everything – into a quiet balance room. All being O.K., as usual, she slides her drawer into her own compartment of the big safe and locks it up with her own exclusive key – all this without a single customer having soured his soul ... Another point about the public office is the excellent lighting. The floor is laid in terrazzo work and the walls are oak panelled ... Messrs. H. C. Janes, of Luton, were the general contractors for the building. Mr. A. Bulloch, of H.M.O.W. was the architect in charge of the building works, and Mr. W. H. Hooson, also of H.M.O.W., was engineer in charge of the heating installation.
