46, 47 and 48 Whitefriargate

The building at 46, 47, and 48 Whitefriargate was formerly known as Martins' Bank, which has its origins in the 16th century and is believed to have been founded by Sir Thomas Gresham. In 1918, Martins Bank was acquired by the Bank of Liverpool, which had previously absorbed Heywood's Bank, established by brothers Arthur and Benjamin Heywood in 1773. Martins Bank became part of Barclays Bank in 1969. This structure was designed by Joseph Frederick Walsh and Graham S Nicholas, who formed the architectural practice of Walsh and Nicholas in Halifax between 1899 and 1910. The building functioned as a bank until around 1964, when a restaurant was opened on the first floor and a jewellers was established below, leading to alterations in the staircase and ground-floor shop.

Constructed in 1904 by Walsh & Nicholas, the building is made of ashlar with a granite shop front and features late 20th-century alterations. It has three storeys and three bays, topped with a roof and a single brick gable stack above a modillion eaves cornice and a parapet decorated with balustrade panels. The top floor showcases small, deeply recessed eight-over-eight sash windows divided by pairs of squat Ionic columns and flanked by square pilasters. The first floor windows have moulded surrounds and elongated double keystones, with the central window featuring a triangular pediment and the outer windows having segmental pediments. These windows contain sashes with single pane lower lights. The ground floor retains granite pilasters and an entablature, along with a refitted late 20th-century shop front.