National Westminster Bank

LANCASTER

SD4761NE CHURCH STREET 1685-1/7/82 (North side) No.68 National Westminster Bank

GV II*

Banking hall and offices. 1870, with C20 addition. By Garlick, Park and Sykes (of Preston). For the Lancaster Banking Co. Sandstone ashlar with ashlar dressings, above a deep plinth of Carboniferous limestone. Slate roof with tall gable chimney stacks. Rectangular plan. In the Italian palazzo style. 2 storeys, over a tall basement which can be seen at the back because of the fall of the land, and 9 bays divided by pilasters on the 1st floor, with the doorway in the 6th. The facade is articulated by a prominent modillion cornice between the storeys and by Corinthian pilasters on the first floor, which carry a heavy entablature, with brackets carved with acanthus leaves in the frieze. The blocking course is interrupted by acroteria carved with palmettes above the pilasters and is raised at the corners. Above the plinth the ground floor has banded rustication and there is a moulded band at the impost level of the windows, which have plain reveals and keystones carved with heads. The windows of the first floor have moulded architraves and recessed sills, below which there is a panel of vermiculation. The 5th and 7th bays contain panels carved with bas-reliefs of the arms of Lancaster and of Lancashire, set in florid scrollwork. The doorway projects strongly, with a pediment which continues the ground-floor cornice and is carried on free-standing Tuscan columns of polished pink granite, mounted on the plinth; the frieze bears the inscription 'BANK'. The bays to the right and left of the doorway are blind. To the left a single-storey 3-bay extension, in early C20 classical style. INTERIOR: large banking hall has ceiling supported on 4 free-standing Corinthian columns and is divided into compartments with modillion cornices. In the central compartment is a glazed lantern. HISTORY: the Lancaster Banking Company was one of the first joint-stock banks in the country, established in 1826 following the collapse of 2 other local banks.

Listing NGR: SD4762661857