Bank House

Bank House is a house, later used as a hotel and now offices, dating to the early 18th century. Records suggest the site was occupied as early as 1680 and is shown on Rastrick’s 1725 plan. The north facade was reworked in the early 19th century with the addition of two full-height canted window bays. The building is constructed of red brick with plain tiled roofs.

The north front has two storeys and a dormer attic. A central panelled door is set within a stuccoed, rusticated Gibbsian surround. Above the door is a sash window with glazing bars and a gauged skewback arch. Canted window bays flank the door, pierced by three matching sashes to each floor and topped with a timber modillion eaves cornice. The gabled roof features two hipped dormers with sashes, between which is a tall stuccoed niche supported on scrolled consoles. The niche, framed by pilaster strips and a round arch, is surmounted by a broken swan-necked pediment and contains a statue of Charles I, originally located in the 1630 Custom House. Internal gable end stacks are present to the east, and a compound stack to the west gable serves a three-storey wing that returns north. This north wing has sashes with glazing bars and gauged skewback arches and dates to the early 19th century. A parapet conceals two hipped roofs.

The west elevation is constructed of English bond brickwork, is three storeys high, and reveals four hipped roofs. Windows are predominantly sash windows with glazing bars and exposed boxes. A stack is located to the left of the centre, with another immediately behind.

The interior includes extensive barrel-vaulted brick cellars, entered from the north-east room under a heavy bressumer. This room features large, plain bridging beams. The ground floor east room has large-frame panelling and a shouldered and eared picture frame in the overmantel; reeded strips separate the sashes in the window bay and the ceiling is divided into large geometric panels. The room above has similar panelling. A staircase features an open string, stick balusters, a ramped and wreathed handrail. Captain Samuel Gurney Cresswell, the Arctic Explorer, was born at Bank House. The building was erected on the site of the 16th-century Port Tollbooth.