National Westminster Bank Including Bank Chambers

This is a bank and office building located on High Street, Bideford, dating from the early to mid-19th century. The left-hand section was likely built around 1853 by RD Gould of Barnstaple. The building is constructed with solid rendered walls, slate roofs (a mansard roof on the left-hand section and a hipped roof on the corner block), and features three rendered chimneys with bracketed cornices.

The building comprises three distinct parts: a lower block fronting High Street, a taller corner block, and another lower block facing King Street. The corner block is three-storeyed, while the others are two-storeyed. The left-hand block, five windows wide, has a vermiculated block ground storey with round-arched windows, originally a doorway in the centre, with moulded imposts and large bearded-head keystones. The upper-storey windows have rusticated architraves, a pedestal course below, and 6-paned sashes. A modillioned eaves cornice is topped by a balustrade.

The corner block presents three windows to High Street and five to The Quay. The ground storey has horizontal channelled decoration, with panelled double doors in place of the central High Street window. The second-storey windows have moulded architraves with bracketed sills and pulvinated friezes with alternating triangular pediments. Third-storey windows have moulded cornices on continued sills. A top entablature is complemented by a bracketed eaves cornice and a frieze with circular panels. Ground and third-storey windows feature barred sashes; the ground storey to High Street has 2 panes over 4 panes, The Quay has 2 panes over 4 panes, and the third storey has 3 panes over 6 panes. The second storey has 3-paned wood casements with 2-paned transom-lights. A round-arched third-storey window with a moulded architrave and vermiculated keystone is visible from The Quay. The block fronting King Street has panelled double doors with a 3-paned fanlight where a window once stood, with decorative nameplates and bell-pushes, likely dating from the 1930s. All windows on this side have barred sashes, with 6 over 6 panes on the ground storey and 3 over 6 panes on the second storey. A moulded plinth is evident on the ground storey, with continued sills on the second storey. A tall panelled parapet completely hides the roof.

The interior's ground-floor banking hall was remodelled in the late 20th century, although a lowered ceiling might conceal earlier details. The entrance to Bank Chambers on King Street features a Georgian-style wooden staircase, probably dating from the 1930s, with a ramped handrail and thick square-section balusters. The builder is thought to be EB White of Bideford.