Natwest Bank And Bank Chambers

A bank and offices, dating from approximately 1895, built for the Lancaster Banking Co. Ltd. The building is constructed of rock-faced limestone with ashlar detailing, and has graduated slate roofs. It has a two-storey and attic design with a two-bay facade wrapping around the corner of Nelson Street and Market Street. The plinth is battered with recessed window aprons, while the ground floor features a sill band and channelled, rock-faced rustication; moulded sill bands are present on the upper floors. The corner entrance has later double doors and a plain fanlight beneath an archivolt featuring insignia on the keystone, supported by rusticated ashlar piers and carved corbels that support a balustraded balcony with emblems and the word 'BANK'.

The first floor features tall, paired sash windows in moulded surrounds, with carved aprons to the similarly treated attic windows within a half-dormer that has a pedimented shield above. Returns show recessed, tripartite sashes under segmental arches with carved keystones (a single sash is to the left of the doorway). A frieze incorporating shields and the original bank name, now masked by a sign, runs along the facade. A dentilled cornice forms the first-floor sills to plain sashes under flat arches with cornices and pedimented keystones. The second floor has bracketed sills to plain sashes in half-dormers with cornices and peaked blocking courses. The interrupted eaves are accentuated by a string course and corbel-table leading to a moulded, cast-iron gutter. The hipped roof has a finial and corniced ashlar stacks positioned at the rear and right end.

A side wing features an entrance to Bank Chambers in the angled right section, with a panelled door and a cornice on a shaped bracket. There are double sash windows on each floor to the left and a single sash above the door; a broad end stack sits on the left. The rear of the wing has a margin-glazed stair window with leaded and stained glass.

Inside, the low banking hall ceiling is decorated with geometric panels featuring fleur-de-lys and lion motifs, as well as a modillioned cornice with egg and dart detailing. Segmental arches provide access to the rear of the building, with the arch on the right incorporating leaded glass, a dentilled transom, and a cornice. The Bank Chambers retain an original staircase with a landing directly in front of the stair window.

This is a good example of a local town bank in a relatively unaltered state; original plans were submitted in 1892.