E.C. Hayton & Co. / Bellringer Buildings, 20-22 Gill Street (1920s-2016)

The N.P.D.C. CBD Heritage Study (1995) states that the premises of the plumbing merchants, E.C.Hayton & Co., made up of two 1920s reinforced concrete buildings, were originally built for separate firms.

"The first was the eastern one for E.C. Hayton and Co. was built about 1922. This was followed by the western building for Bellringer Bros Ltd, a firm of painters, glaziers and paperhangers."

The architects for Bellringer Bros were Messenger, Griffiths and Taylor. A permit was issued to Mrs F.C. Bellringer (wife of the late Fred Bellringer) on 15 October 1926 for a building on Gill Street. It seems likely this is the above building; the builder was Frank Cooper and the estimated cost £1,300.

A permit was issued on 29 March 1924, to E.C. Hayton to erect a building on town section 876. The builder was A. Brown and the estimated cost of £2,500. This makes the date of completion more likely to be 1924 or 1925, rather than 1922. It is thought that Hayton's purchased the section from New Plymouth Sash and Door Company. The architect for the Hayton building is unknown.

In the 1960s E.C. Hayton & Co. acquired both the Bellringer Building and the small building at 24 Gill Street. It appears that the firm rented out the Bellringer Building, while using the other one as part of the business.  

The business closed on 31 March 1995, and the buildings were sold to Te Ātiawa Trust in 2004. 

Both buildings were demolished in June/July 2016 - "The Metrotel" is now occupies on the site.

Related items:

Town Section 876, Taranaki Land Deed Index I3 page 233. (Archives New Zealand)

Town Section 877, Taranaki Land Deed Index I4 page 216. (Archives New Zealand)