Former First Trust Bank, 74 High Street, Holywood, Co Down, BT18 9AE

Former First Trust Bank, 74 High Street, Holywood

This is a former bank building constructed in 1921, designed by Godfrey William Ferguson (c.1855–1939) of Belfast, who served as architect to the Northern Banking Company and designed many of their branches throughout Northern Ireland. It stands on the east side of High Street in Holywood town centre and is a fine example of Edwardian freestyle architecture with a loosely classical character, notable for its high-quality stonework detailing. The building is listed alongside two neighbouring listed buildings: High Street Presbyterian Church to the northeast and the Public Library to the southwest.

The building is almost square on plan, four bays wide, two storeys tall, and built in red brick. It has a single-storey entrance porch to the northwest and a large single-storey flat-roofed extension to the southeast. The roof is hipped and finished in natural slate with blue-black angled ridge tiles. The square red-brick chimneystacks are gabled and capped with terracotta pots set on sandstone plinths. Original cast-iron ogee rainwater goods and cast-iron hoppers survive throughout.

The walling is in English garden wall bond red brick with a sandstone plinth and sandstone quoins. A sandstone egg-and-dart frieze runs below a dentilled cornice, and there are continuous sandstone sills throughout. Most windows are one-over-one single-glazed timber sliding sashes with horns, set in moulded surrounds with sandstone keyblocks and continuous sandstone sills. To the roof there are paired three-over-three timber-framed dormers.

The principal northwest (front) elevation is almost symmetrical, with a raised parapet and projecting sandstone cornice. At both ground and first floor levels the windows have been replaced with hardwood double-glazed units. Painted signage is applied to the brick above the first-floor windows. There are two entrance points at ground floor level. The left-hand entrance is a projecting sandstone porch with channelled rustication, reached by four stone steps, and contains a double-leaf six-panelled timber door with an ornate spider-web transom light; the doorway is flanked by pilasters with a moulded architrave and keyblock, and is surmounted by a cornice and blocking course carried on ornate console brackets. The right-hand entrance is also reached by four stone steps and features a six-panelled timber door with brass door furniture and a transom light, set within a sandstone surround bearing carved grape and vine detail to the upper section, with a decorative moulded lintel, keyblock, and dentilled cornice above.

The northeast side elevation of the front block has three windows at ground floor level — those to either side being slenderer — and two windows to the left of centre at first floor level, with painted signage applied to the brick above the cornice. To the rear of the front block is a two-storey hipped-roof return, with two window openings close together at ground floor and a blank wall above, obscured beneath signage. Beyond this is a further single-storey flat-roofed return with two window openings.

The rear southeast elevation is more complex. At second floor level there is a dormer window to the left of centre, with hipped-roof square bay returns abutting on both sides — the left return, which contains the accommodation stairwell, is narrower. At first floor level, the left return has a window and a brick chimney; the right return has two windows on its southwest elevation and two windows on its northeast elevation. Between the returns is a glazed double-leaf access door, which appears to be a modern replacement within the original opening. At ground floor level, within the single-storey return, the original toilet windows have been replaced with a large glazed panel and an access door with roller shutter and awning above. The original door to the north has been replaced with glazing, while the accommodation door to the south remains as access to the kitchen. The southwest elevation is abutted by the adjoining building and the exposed section is blank.

The site formerly contained an L-shaped enclave of two-storey cottages known as Gray's Court, dating from around 1840, which were demolished to make way for the bank. The bank was originally built for the Northern Banking Company. By 1986 occupation had passed to TSB, which became First Trust Bank in 1991. A solicitors' firm occupied offices on the first floor. The building was decommissioned as a bank around 2008 and currently houses commercial offices on the upper floors and a restaurant at ground floor. The rear extensions were constructed between 1921 and 1957–58. The interior has been significantly renovated, resulting in considerable loss of original fabric, though some historic interior detailing remains and the overall historical character of the building is unaltered.

The building sits set back from High Street, with a boundary formed by a dwarf wall of red brick with sandstone coping, cast-iron railings, and decorative latch gates at the entrances. A ramp rises from ground level to the entrance porch. Tarmacadam access to the rear car park lies to the left, bounded on the side adjoining the church by a rubble-stone wall with a large sandstone pier with pointed cap.