Former National Westminster Bank

The former National Westminster Bank in Loftus is a bank building with accommodation for bank managers above, now vacant. It was constructed between 1877 and 1878, designed by Alfred J Martin of Darlington and built by J Dickenson of Saltburn for the National Provincial Bank of England. The building is made of ashlar stone and topped with Welsh slate roofs. It stands three storeys tall, featuring a half hipped roof with a moulded central stack and a tall stone stack on the right.

The street front has a chamfered plinth. The ground floor features four central linked pointed arches, flanked by single similar arches. The central arches contain an off-centre doorway with a double panel door in a shouldered archway, topped with a Gothic overlight. To the right, there is a single polished marble column, with two similar columns to the left, all adorned with elaborate carved capitals made by Farmer & Brindley of London. The windows in these arches are casement windows with pointed overlights. The outer right arch has another casement window, while the outer left arch has a door with an overlight. All arches have moulded hoods with label stops.

Above, stone bands define the fascia board, supported by moulded corbels at either end, which also create a continuous cill band for the first-floor windows. The first floor features two pairs of pointed arched windows with polished marble columns between, set in sunken surrounds with sash windows and overlights, along with false linking balconies. There are single pointed arch windows with sashes and overlights on either side, complete with impost bands and moulded hoods with stops. The top floor mirrors this window arrangement, featuring sash windows in shouldered surrounds and a continuous cill band. The moulded eaves cornice is decorated with central and corner corbels, the outer ones topped with pyramidal caps.