WHEN it comes to a book about Worcester’s most interesting buildings, you could go down the predictable route and roll out places like the Cathedral, Guildhall and, to show you’re not an old fuddy-duddy, the gold plated Hive.

But all credit to author James Dinn who has looked beyond the box and come up with some gems.

His Worcester in 50 Buildings (Amberley £14.99) includes, for instance, 61 Broad Street, the Paul Pry pub and Lloyd’s Bank on The Cross, a place thousands of people pass every day but rarely give a second glance.

So what’s so special about 61 Broad Street, a tall, narrow building that’s only about three strides wide and easy to miss? It actually has a name, the Cupola House, and stands opposite the entrance to Crown Passage.

At ground floor level, the property has become just another shop, but the answer, as is so often the case, is to look up.

In James Dinn’s view it is one of the city’s oddest, not oldest, Georgian buildings.

He explains: “There are six storeys from the cellar to the domed Gothic belvedere on the roof, but the building is only a single bay wide. For a long time is has been a puzzle. Some thought the domed room was a private synagogue, but new research has shown it was lived in and probably built by Joseph Blackburn, an 18th century painter.”

Blackburn was a well known society portrait artist, who first came to fame in Bermuda around 1752 before moving to New England.

Many of his portraits are in public collections in America. However, he came from Worcester and returned to the city with his family in 1764.

“The Blackburn connection could provide a plausible explanation for the external and internal features of this very unusual building,” Mr Dinn concludes.

He points out the red brick of the façade is typical of Worcester in the Georgian period, as are the stucco quoins, while above a modern shop front, three Venetian windows are each surmounted by a painted head.

“These may well recall Blackburn’s travels across the Atlantic,” he adds. “Inside there is a Chinoiserie staircase extending the full height of the building and much decorative wood work and plaster work.”

In short, it’s a fascinating place that deserves more recognition.

As probably does the Paul Pry, which has enjoyed varying fluctuations over the years, but is currently on an up. James Dinn describes it as “an exceptionally well preserved backstreet pub, which is highly decorated both inside and out.”

From the street, the carved stonework frieze and oriel windows, which incorporate the brewer’s initials and date of 1901, together with etched glass give a hint of the elaborate decorations inside.

The lobby and passageway have tiled walls and marble intarsia floors, while the bar has original wall benches, fireplace and flooring.

The mahogany counter is overlooked by a magnificent back bar complete with a clock, mirrors and decorative urns. Incidentally, Paul Pry was the name of a character in a play first performed in 1825, who was so popular many pubs in England were named after him.

Lloyds Bank – “the very model of a trustworthy bank headquarters” according to Mr Dinn – was built in 1861 as the headquarters of the Worcester City and County Bank, which later merged with Lloyds. The building was modelled on a Florentine palazzo, recalling the medieval bankers of that city. Its polished pink granite entrance pillars and the intricate carvings above are the work of William Forsyth of the noted Worcester family of stonemasons who also produced the magnificent fountains at Witley Court. His work on the Lloyds building is an oft overlooked masterpiece.

So those are just three buildings among 50 in this new book. Of course, it does cover all the usual fodder, but if it rams home one lesson, it is to look upwards above street level. Because often history lies up there just as much as down in the ground.