We introduce a new series on Neath's listed buildings.   First we just highlight them and then we will hopefully expand on their history in conjunction with local historians.

No.1 -  Lloyds Bank

Lloyds Bank in Neath is located at Windsor Road and is opposite the town's railway station.

Some readers may like to know what is involved with listed buildings so we give below some information that may be of interest.

A listed building may not be demolished, extended, or altered without special permission from the local planning authority, which typically consults the relevant central government agency, particularly for significant alterations to the more notable listed buildings. Exemption from secular listed building control is provided for some buildings in current use for worship, but only in cases where the relevant religious organisation operates its own equivalent permissions procedure. Owners of listed buildings are, in some circumstances, compelled to repair and maintain them and can face criminal prosecution if they fail to do so or if they perform unauthorised alterations. The listing procedure allows for buildings to be removed from the list if the listing is shown to be in error.

The origins of Lloyds Bank date from 1765, when button maker John Taylor and iron producer and dealer Sampson Lloyd II set up a private banking business in Dale End, Birmingham. The first branch office opened in Oldbury, some six miles (10 km) west of Birmingham, in 1864. The symbol adopted by Taylors and Lloyds was the beehive, representing industry and hard work. The black horse device dates from 1677, when Humphrey Stokes adopted it as sign for his shop. Stokes was a goldsmith and "keeper of the running cashes" (an early term for banker) and the business became part of Barnett, Hoares & Co. When the bank took over that bank in 1884, it retained the black horse as its symbol.

Source: Wikipedia.