BOSTON POST OFFICE
18 Wide Bargate
 Old postcard view 
Photograph © Dave Hitchborne via Geograph and licensed for re-use under a Creative Commons Licence
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Architect: John Rutherford Year: 1907 Listed building status: Grade II Archive sources British Postal Museum & Archive: POST 30/1102A National Archives: WORK 13/247 Selected bibliographical references Builder 4 Jan 1908, p. 21 Building News 20 Dec 1907, p. 872 Stamford Mercury 13 Dec 1907, p. History Opened: 12 Dec 1907 Closed: 12 Feb 2014 Current use: Awaiting redevelopment |
Building description
From: Stamford Mercury 13 December 1907, p. 4
The ceremony of opening the new Post-office, Wide Bargate was performed by the Right Hon. Sydney Charles Buxton, the Postmaster-General this (Thursday) afternoon. The need of new post-office has been manifest to the authorities for many months. The present office in High-street was opened in April 1885, and since that date the business has grown immensely ... in 1906 [a] new site was acquired in Wide Bargate, and in June of this year a contract for building was entered into with Messrs. H.W. Parker and Son of Boston, who also succeeded in obtaining the separate contract for the interior fittings. The plans and designs were the work of Mr. J. Rutherford, H.M. Office of Works, and the work has been carried out under the supervision of Mr. John E. Ladds, clerk of the works. The total cost of the building and site is about £9000. The architecture of the new building is of the Ionic order and the new offices have a frontage of 55 feet to Wide Bargate and 155 feet to a new street to be named Post Office-street which leads one to one of the entrances to Oldrid's Park. The building consists of two floors and an attic storey, laid out in store-rooms. The public entrance is adorned by a tower in three stories, surmounted by a copper dome and finial. Immediately beneath the dome a cornice moulding and beside the windows are four lions' heads carved in stone. On either side of the main entrance are Ionic columns with cups, acanthus leaves and scrolls, supporting a handsome stone pediment, which encloses a shield decorated with plaster-carved leaves. The carving, which also includes shields over the first floor windows, is the work of Mr. Gilbert Seale, of Camberwell-road. S.E. The public office is 29 feet in length and 20 feet in width, and is approached a lobby from the main entrance. The ceiling of the office is ornamented with plaster panelling and cornices, and the floor is laid with Terazzo [sic] mosaic pavement, the work of the Art Paving and Decoration Company, Ltd. The counter runs the full length of the office and is fitted with a brass wire screen, and accommodation for six clerks. Six desks are provided for the public for the writing of telegrams, etc. and there is a silent cabinet containing the public telephone. The sorting office, which is approached from behind the counter, is 75 feet long and 30 feet wide, and the tables and racks provide accommodation for postmen and about a dozen sorting clerks. There is a separate enclosure for dealing with registered letters, a chief clerk's office, and at the end a sorting office lobby and general store-rooms. The lobby communicates directly with the loading platform, overlooking the yard, about 450 yards in area, which contains shelter, engineers' stores, truck shed, and lavatories for the male staff. The new building is amply provided with retiring rooms for the various members of the staff. The telegraph instrument room is 38 feet by 15, and the telephone room feet 30 feet by 15, both fitted with the latest apparatus. The battery room and stores are in the attic. The building is heated by means of hot water pipes and radiators and lighted by gas. To celebrate the opening the new Post-office, the staff of the office held a concert, banquet and ball in the Assembly-rooms on Wednesday night, and there was a large attendance. Dancing commenced at eight o'clock and banquet was served at half-past ten. A musical programme was submitted during the evening, and the proceedings terminated at two o'clock this (Thursday) morning ...
From: Stamford Mercury 13 December 1907, p. 4
The ceremony of opening the new Post-office, Wide Bargate was performed by the Right Hon. Sydney Charles Buxton, the Postmaster-General this (Thursday) afternoon. The need of new post-office has been manifest to the authorities for many months. The present office in High-street was opened in April 1885, and since that date the business has grown immensely ... in 1906 [a] new site was acquired in Wide Bargate, and in June of this year a contract for building was entered into with Messrs. H.W. Parker and Son of Boston, who also succeeded in obtaining the separate contract for the interior fittings. The plans and designs were the work of Mr. J. Rutherford, H.M. Office of Works, and the work has been carried out under the supervision of Mr. John E. Ladds, clerk of the works. The total cost of the building and site is about £9000. The architecture of the new building is of the Ionic order and the new offices have a frontage of 55 feet to Wide Bargate and 155 feet to a new street to be named Post Office-street which leads one to one of the entrances to Oldrid's Park. The building consists of two floors and an attic storey, laid out in store-rooms. The public entrance is adorned by a tower in three stories, surmounted by a copper dome and finial. Immediately beneath the dome a cornice moulding and beside the windows are four lions' heads carved in stone. On either side of the main entrance are Ionic columns with cups, acanthus leaves and scrolls, supporting a handsome stone pediment, which encloses a shield decorated with plaster-carved leaves. The carving, which also includes shields over the first floor windows, is the work of Mr. Gilbert Seale, of Camberwell-road. S.E. The public office is 29 feet in length and 20 feet in width, and is approached a lobby from the main entrance. The ceiling of the office is ornamented with plaster panelling and cornices, and the floor is laid with Terazzo [sic] mosaic pavement, the work of the Art Paving and Decoration Company, Ltd. The counter runs the full length of the office and is fitted with a brass wire screen, and accommodation for six clerks. Six desks are provided for the public for the writing of telegrams, etc. and there is a silent cabinet containing the public telephone. The sorting office, which is approached from behind the counter, is 75 feet long and 30 feet wide, and the tables and racks provide accommodation for postmen and about a dozen sorting clerks. There is a separate enclosure for dealing with registered letters, a chief clerk's office, and at the end a sorting office lobby and general store-rooms. The lobby communicates directly with the loading platform, overlooking the yard, about 450 yards in area, which contains shelter, engineers' stores, truck shed, and lavatories for the male staff. The new building is amply provided with retiring rooms for the various members of the staff. The telegraph instrument room is 38 feet by 15, and the telephone room feet 30 feet by 15, both fitted with the latest apparatus. The battery room and stores are in the attic. The building is heated by means of hot water pipes and radiators and lighted by gas. To celebrate the opening the new Post-office, the staff of the office held a concert, banquet and ball in the Assembly-rooms on Wednesday night, and there was a large attendance. Dancing commenced at eight o'clock and banquet was served at half-past ten. A musical programme was submitted during the evening, and the proceedings terminated at two o'clock this (Thursday) morning ...
