Francis House (Lloyds Bank)

Francis House, formerly a house and now a bank, dates from the early to mid-19th century. It is constructed of plastered brick and features a hipped grey slate roof. The building stands three storeys high and has five bays, with a central raised pediment and a parapet. There is a band at the end of each storey and the pediment. The first and second floors are adorned with pilasters that have moulded capitals. The window arrangement consists of a 2:1:2 pattern of vertically sliding sashes, with moulded surrounds; the first floor windows have twelve panes, and the second floor has nine panes, except for the central double doors on the first floor. These doors lead to a cast iron balcony decorated with anthemion and roundel motifs. The ground floor has five moulded openings, with the right and left openings featuring six-panelled doors, a central small paned window with sidelights, a small paned door to the right, and a blocked opening to the left that now contains a service till. A plaque on the first floor commemorates Edward Belcham Francis, a local archaeologist and benefactor who donated Rayleigh Mount to the National Trust, and notes his life from 1850 to 1939.