4, St Martins

Former bank built in 1874 to the designs of Edward Burgess.

The building is constructed of red brick laid in English bond with stone dressings and a slate roof covering. It occupies a rectangular plan at the corner of St Martins and Grey Friars, with an extension of 1877 adjoining the western end facing St Martins.

The bank is executed in the Gothic style with asymmetrical elevations. It rises two storeys beneath a steeply pitched roof, with a splayed angle forming the entrance front. The entrance consists of double-leaf pointed arch wooden doors with studded fillets arranged as square panelling and Y-tracery above, further embellished with ironwork forming a scroll and fleur-de-lis design. The doors are set within a heavy moulded pointed arch of three orders, flanked on either side by a pair of attached columns surmounted by acanthus leaf capitals. A moulded stone canopy supported by curved brackets shelters the entrance. Above this a stone tablet engraved with the words SAVINGS BANK sits beneath a moulded stone string course that runs across the splayed corner. The corbelled first floor features a stone-coped gable flanked by round stone shafts with finials. Within the gable is a round-arched stone panel embellished with a shield and foliate design. Below this the first floor contains a two-light window in a blocked stone surround with a pilaster shaft to the mullion and a modillion string course above.

The right return on St Martins is lit on the ground floor by two large mullion and transom windows in blocked surrounds with a single-light window in the middle, all beneath a continuous hoodmould. The first floor features a gable flush with the wall bearing the date stone 1874, containing a pair of single-light transom windows in blocked stone surrounds, flanked by one on the right and two on the left. To the left again are three small windows in trefoil head surrounds. The adjoining 1877 extension to the right is similar in design but plainer, rising three storeys with stone string courses marking each storey and three bays in width, the central gabled bay projecting slightly. The outer bays contain wooden doors with fillets forming panelling, with rectangular overlights and blocked stone surrounds. The ground floor is lit by two single-light transom windows, and the first floor by a three-light mullion window with one-over-one pane sashes flanked by single sash windows under a stone lintel. The second floor is lit by three windows under a continuous stone lintel.

The left return on Grey Friars is divided into two bays by wide stepped buttresses with stone banding across the lower half and a moulded string course above. The ground floor is lit by two large mullion and transom windows with moulded lintels. The first floor contains two Gothic arcaded four-light windows with moulded pointed arches and pilaster shafts surmounted by carved capitals.

The interior banking hall retains no original fixtures and fittings but remains an impressive space. It features a moulded cornice with the ceiling divided into three main areas by deep moulded ribs supported by shaped brackets. In the south-west corner a large coved lantern with paired moulded ribs is supported by a chamfered square column with capitals embellished by Tudor roses. A mezzanine has been inserted in this space in the early 21st century. Stone steps with iron rod balusters and a moulded handrail lead down into the basement, which contains strong rooms with heavy security doors. One room is lined in white tiles and another has slate storage shelves with brick uprights. The upper floors were not inspected.