Former Union Bank of Manchester, Heywood

Former Union Bank of Manchester, Heywood

This bank was built in 1909 to designs by J D and S J Mould of Bury and London, in the Edwardian Baroque style. A modern rear brick extension of limited architectural interest has been added.

The building is constructed of sandstone ashlar with a slate roof and leaded domes. It has a narrow, wedge-shaped plan and comprises two storeys with a basement. The banking hall occupies the ground floor, offices are on the first floor, and a strong room is located in the basement.

The narrow, two-bay north front elevation faces Church Street. It sits on a deep plinth with large, squared blocks. A square-headed basement window with a chamfered lintel and horizontal iron bar is set to the left, while the right-hand side angles out from the wall face to meet a large, projecting portico. This angled section steps down in the centre and is surmounted by decorative wrought iron railing. The portico has alternately blocked columns with Ionic capitals supporting an entablature and a broken triangular pediment. The pediment features relief-carved tympanum and an oval cartouche topped with a ball finial. The recessed doorway contains panelled double doors and a rectangular, multi-pane overlight.

To the left of the portico is a pointed bay window with Gibbs surrounds and alternately blocked pilasters with Ionic capitals. The two tall windows are nine-over-nine pane horned sashes. A cash-point machine has been inserted beneath the left-hand window. Above the window is a stone balcony with bulbous stone balusters supported on large consoles. A second balcony with a stone block balustrade sits over the portico.

The right-hand corner features a domed turret with clasping corner pilasters supporting round-headed arches. Behind these arches is a lead dome on a low octagonal stone base. The first-floor window has a Gibbs surround and a six-over-single pane horned sash frame, with a relief-carved swag of fruit above and a blind roundel in the arch head. To the left of the turret is a tripartite, square-headed window with alternating block jambs, square-cut stone mullions, and six-over-single pane horned sash frames. A moulded modillion eaves cornice runs along the top, with a short stone parapet at the left-hand corner.

The seven-bay west elevation faces Hind Hill Street and has a domed turret at each corner, the left-hand one embellished with a relief-carved swag of fruit. A deep plinth contains five square-headed basement windows with chamfered lintels and horizontal iron bars. The ground floor displays alternate banded stonework, with a frieze band between the ground and first floors. Five tall ground-floor windows contain small-paned horned sash frames; the three central bay windows are more closely spaced. The left-hand first bay has a narrower window, and the right-hand seventh bay contains a doorway (now blocked as of 2022) with a Gibbs surround incorporating a round-headed arch with a giant keystone and relief-carved cartouche in the arch head.

The first floor features a shallow oriel containing the three central windows, with a cartouche beneath the central window. The oriel is flanked by windows in the second and sixth bays. All first-floor windows have alternating block jambs and six-over-single pane horned sash frames. A moulded modillion eaves cornice runs between the turrets.

The narrow south end bay forms one side of the right-hand Hind Hill Street turret and is blind. The east side elevation originally abutted a row of shops on Church Street (now demolished) and is blind. It is now mostly obscured by modern brick facing and a set-back, two-storey modern brick extension.

The banking hall retains a panelled ceiling with enriched cornices, though it has a partially under-drawn ceiling and a glazed and metal-framed entrance lobby from modern refurbishment. The offices and ancillary spaces have modern under-drawn ceilings, and original doors have been replaced with modern solid doors. The inner wall of the staircase at the rear of the banking hall has been rebuilt in modern brick.