Former National Westminster Bank on Corner at Junction with Spring Gardens is a Grade II* listed building in the Manchester local planning authority area, England. First listed on 4 January 1972. Bank. 12 related planning applications.

Former National Westminster Bank on Corner at Junction with Spring Gardens

WRENN ID
small-portal-equinox
Grade
II*
Local Planning Authority
Manchester
Constituency
Manchester Central MP: Lucy Powell (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
4 January 1972
Type
Bank
Address
Former National Westminster Bank on Corner at Junction with Spring Gardens, 1 and 3, York Street, M2 2AW
OS grid reference
SJ 840 982
Coordinates
53.48117, -2.2413
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: sale history · related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

This is a bank, built in 1902 by Charles Heathcote for Parr’s Bank. It is located on the corner of York Street and Spring Gardens in Manchester, with a splayed corner facing Spring Gardens. The building is constructed of red sandstone on a grey granite plinth, with a slate roof. It is a significant example of Edwardian Baroque architecture.

The building has three unequal storeys and an attic, with a 1:5:1 bay arrangement along York Street, including the corner. The ground floor is notably taller than the floors above. The ground floor features banded rectangular piers supporting coupled Doric columns with a shaped entablature. Each bay is filled with a large round-headed window featuring moulded detail, a scrolled keystone, plate-glass glazing, and enriched bronze metalwork, including stained glass in the lower panels and arched margin panes above. The first floor has 3-light mullioned windows with eared architraves and triple keystones, surmounted by a prominent enriched cornice with modillions. The second floor features arcaded segmental-arched windows with festoons between each group of three. The attic has 3-light dormer windows with shouldered architraves and segmental pediments.

A distinctive feature is the right-hand end bay, which is four-storeyed with a projecting design, a curved pediment, and a doorway with an elaborate Baroque architrave. Above this is a two-storey canted oriel with small windows in heavy surrounds, and a round-headed window on the third floor, all with richly decorated surrounds.

The corner has octagonal piers framing a large round-headed doorway, followed by windows with Gibbs surrounds, an elegant balcony with Art Nouveau railings, and a cylindrical turret with Ionic aedicules, a modillioned cornice, and a domed lead roof with a lantern. The return side to Spring Gardens mirrors the York Street facade.

The interior features an imposing and richly decorated banking hall. Stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops are present.

Local climate

Former National Westminster Bank on Corner at Junction with Spring Gardens sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 1,060 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 85% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 77% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 43 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 84% of listed buildings. Of these, 23 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • No EPC on record for this property
  • Sale history — 1 transaction since 2014
  • Related listed building consents — 12 applications
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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