Former Mercantile Bank Of Lancashire

The Former Mercantile Bank of Lancashire is a building located on Lapwing Lane in Manchester, dating from 1903 and designed by Joseph Swarbrick. It features finely-pointed red brick with red and yellow terracotta detailing, topped by a hipped two-span red tiled roof with crested ridge tiles. The building has an L-shaped plan, with the longer section housing the former banking hall and general office, and the smaller section to the left containing the former manager's office.

It is a single-storey structure with two bays plus two bays facing Lapwing Lane and three bays facing Cresswell Grove. Architectural details include corner pilasters, a plinth, a moulded sill-band above an arcade of round-headed arches, a yellow terracotta string-course, and a frieze featuring a terracotta panel inscribed "MERCANTILE BANK OF LANCASHIRE LIMITED." The prominent cornice is modillioned and enriched with an egg-and-dart motif, and the building is capped with a coped parapet.

The left bay of the main range has double doors with raised panels, while the other bays, which were boarded at the time of survey, featured three-light round-headed tripartite windows. The right-hand corner has a well-detailed recessed downpipe and rainwater head dated 1903.

Inside, as of 1988, the bank retains mahogany doors with lugged surrounds, two staircases leading to the vaults with turned balusters, egg-and-dart cornices, and mosaic floors.