The Bank Public House

The Bank Public House, originally built in 1889 as a branch of Lloyds Bank, is a richly detailed Italianate style bank, now operating as a public house. In 1986, a conservatory extension was added. The building is constructed of freestone ashlar with channelled and moulded rustication, and has a roof concealed behind moulded parapets. It features three lateral, panelled stacks with moulded cornices, and buttressed stacks behind the entrance porch.

The building has an L-shaped plan, incorporating a quadrant-plan entrance bay within the corner, a principal wing with a bowed front, and a quadrant-plan link to a tapering elevation. The corner front is asymmetrical, presenting a facade of 1:3:1:2 bays. The ground floor has plinths and coved round arches, a mid-floor entablature, and fluted Corinthian columns dividing the principal first-floor bays, topped by an entablature with moulded and dentilled cornices. Corner pilasters feature carved coats of arms. First-floor window openings feature Ionic columns, open pediments, and carved aprons. The attic storey has moulded window architraves with keyed segmental arches. The principal three-bay wing is bowed to both ground and first floors. Above, a moulded triangular pediment features a central cartouche. The bowed entrance bay has a distyle-in-antis arrangement on each floor, and an open Tuscan porch with wrought-iron railings leads to a moulded doorway with a carved blind overlight and a pair of panelled doors. A second doorway is located to the right of the right-hand wing with a recessed six-panel door. A bowed bay to the left of the three-window wing has a first-floor window opening with rusticated jambs, a keyed moulded head, a shaped pediment, and drapes to the apron. The return elevation is rusticated and features a mid-floor string and moulded cornice. Most windows have horned sashes.

The interior is very richly detailed, featuring a panelled dome with florets and a central acanthus rose in the vestibule. The main room boasts a coffered ceiling with moulded cornices featuring egg-and-dart and bead-and-reel enrichment, panelled and carved rib/beam soffits, fielded mahogany dado panelling, and large wall panels. Another room contains a moulded ceiling cornice and an original chimneypiece.

This building, along with Derry’s Clock Tower, is among the few structures in the immediate area to have survived both the Blitz and subsequent post-war redevelopment, and its setting enhances its quality.