Greek Architecture

7. Still in the High Street

What horrible things have been done to this once elegant facade! Once, obviously, there were six Doric columns/pilasters on the ground floor elevation. This follows renaissance practice where the precedent of the Colosseum is followed (to some extent) - on the Colosseum in Rome we find Doric on the ground,Ionic in the 1st floor, Corinthian on the 2nd and Composite on the 4th. A two storey building like this presumably has the liberty to leave out the Ionic stage. But whose idea was it to pick out the fine corinthian capitals, and the rather attractive balconies in dark green? The blocked-up window on the left doesn't help. Neither of the ground floor businesses are still extant - though they may not have been responsible for what was perpetrated above heir heads.