National Westminster Bank

The National Westminster Bank, located on Burnley Road in Padiham, was built in 1901 by Mills Murgatroyd of Manchester, originally for the Manchester and County Bank. Constructed of sandstone ashlar with a slate roof, the building is designed in a Free Jacobean style. It is two storeys high and consists of five bays, with a low square tower topped by a square dome above the central entrance, and a large bay window to the right. The main entrance is roughly in the centre and features a doorway with moulded jambs and a moulded four-centre arch, set within a frame incorporating Renaissance detailing. This frame displays the date and shields of Manchester and Lancashire. A pediment on the frame rises to embrace the first-floor window. The double-leaved door is panelled in a Jacobean style. The banking hall to the right has a five-light window within a frame where the two king mullions are half-lozenges in plan and decorated with lozenges. The design of the bay window is similar and includes a balustrade of square, inverted vase balusters, incorporating a panel of rinceaux under florid initials 'MCB'. Most first-floor windows have two lights, with semi-circular arches above the transomes, from which a small mullion springs. A doorway leads to the chambers on the left, and there are two modern shop fronts to the right, beneath the original string course. Internally, the banking hall features Jacobean-style panelling and a ribbed plaster ceiling. The building occupies a sloping corner site and is a prominent feature in the area, intended as a counterpart to the bank at number 17 Burnley Road.