For the vast majority of us, we have been familiar with the elegant design of 2 Market Place as being the home of Wymondham's branch of HSBC, formerly Midland Bank, but what do we know of the building's past?

The building's appearance has been altered and the exterior and interior fittings have drastically changed, as has its use.

Here by 1835, David Turner had opened what would become a thriving Drapers and Grocery business for 40 years. In 1840, David, then 40 years old, lived in the accompanying accommodation with wife Sarah Louisa and children Ellen aged 6, Harriet 5, Sarah 3 and baby David. They also had domestic servants Mary Carpenter, Sarah Brighton and Henry Lee. Store staff Walter Turner, William Riches and William Ward 'lived in' as well which was commonplace at this time.

Drapers were important stores in those days and most towns had more than one. They frequently ventured into other lines like grocers, millinery and fancy goods. People could not travel far to shop and mail order was very limited so it was important to be able to offer shoppers a full range of everything needed at home.

By 1851 the Turner's had another child, Mary aged 7. Staff living in were shopmen William Smith and Charles Le Grice and young apprentices Walter Smith and Thomzs Canham, both ten years old. The servants at this time were Mary Parsons, Sarah Hardiment and Wlliam Kedge; the requirement for three servants shows what a busy household it must have been.

Now in his 60s in 1861 David Turner employed two shopmen Alfred Jeffries and Samuel Sheddon, three apprentices George Reeve, James Dawes and William Andrews. Martha Beanes and Ann Hawes were the young ladies living in service.

In 1871 one man, two women and one apprentice were employed in shop work. It's interesting to note how by now women were being employed to work in shops and it was no longer a male only trade. Sarah Edwards Pryer was an assistant draper and Annie Durrant a milliner. David's son David was now 30 and in the grocery and drapery trade alongside his father. David junior was now married to Alice and they had a son Hammond. Palmer Kerry was a 16 year old apprentice whilst Ann Lawn and Rachel Woodbine were the domestic servants in the house.

Sarah the assistant draper went on to marry shopman Edward Clarke in 1872. He was born in Suffolk and in 1871 left Turners and opened his own Drapers and Grocers store in Market Street on the corner of Damgate. This shop would become one of the town's most iconic stores of the 20th century. In time, Edward's business passed to his son Harry, who had been told Turners was where his parents worked together. Clarkes closed in 1969 following Harry's death and became home to George Reeves printing and stationery business.

David Turner passed away in 1872 age 73 after a lifetime in the grocery and drapery trade.

The shop remained as David Turner & Co and in 1878 is listed as a grocers linen and woollen drapers, silk mercers and glovers. David junior remained in the drapery trade but soon after moved away from Wymondham.

By 1881, Charles Selby, formerly a grocer in Norwich and Shouldham, had taken over the premises with wife Martha. Their children were Sarah, Kate, Louisa and youngest William. Theodore Spencer age 25 was employed and living with the family along with domestic servant Emma Caley, age 16.

1883 sees Charles Selby's store listed as a grocers, drapers, milliners, dressmakers and also a wine and spirit merchants and in 1891 Frederick Green age 16 was the apprentice and Charlotte Hammond age 22 lived in service.

The records of the 1890s are not clear as to who were the occupants of the shop. Charles Selby ceased trading at some point and moved away to Hampshire. Kelly's 1896 directory references Thomas Lambert, Christopher Laycock and Frederick Le Grice as grocers and drapers on the Market Place. Laycocks and Lamberts both occupied what is now Abbotts in this era. So was Frederick Le Grice in the former Selby's shop for a time?

By 1901 Hugh Gascoyne was well established as the latest Draper and Grocer in the premises with a large sign dominating the view across the Market Place, with wife Agnes and son Reginald an apprentice. Reginald would later become a Baptist minister.

Hugh was born in Cambridgeshire and spent his pre Norfolk days there, and in Northamptonshire and Hertfordshire.

Other children who were still living at home were Alwyne 11, Millie 10, and James 8. Assistants were Edith Wright and Grace Jolly, and the domestic servant was Gertrude Edwards.

Once Hugh's sons Alwyne and James finished school they became assistants in their fathers shop. In 1911 their servant was Alice Shaw aged 16, an occupation many young girls had little choice but to join and this Market Place home and business had seen many girls working in service over the decades.

Hugh's sons both served in World War One. Alwyne joined the army whilst his brother James joined the Royal Flying Corp with both surviving the conflict.

We can surmise that following the hard war years and now with the Co Operative store on the Market Place and International Stores next door but one, competition became fierce for the Gascoynes and they closed by the early 1920s.

Following the Gascoynes departure the building was restored and altered to become an impressive branch for the Midland Bank Ltd and its Wymondham customers. The new exterior included an arched doorway with a half roundel window above and tall arched windows in place of the previous shop frontage. Inside wood panelling and the iconic and memorable high wooden counters were throughout until recent times saw the counters modernised.

The manager of the Wymondham branch of the bank in the 1920s was John Marcus Mason. In the following decade George William Anson was at the helm. The front steps were removed a few years ago for the consideration of Wymondham's elderly and disabled customers. 

The name Midland Bank Ltd had been adopted in 1923 following many acquisitions by the London City and Midland Bank. By 1934 it was the largest deposit bank in the world and in 1992 it was taken over by HSBC Holdings plc and by 1999 the name Midland Bank changed to HSBC Bank and was rebranded to HSBC UK in 2015.

One wonders what David Turner, Charles Selby and Hugh Gascoyne would make of their old drapers and grocers store today!