Northern Bank, 77 Main Street, Bangor, Co Down, BT20 5AP

Former Market House, now Northern Bank, Bangor

This detached, corner-sited former market house was built around 1830 by Lord Bangor and Colonel Ward in a neo-classical style, and stands prominently at the junction of Main Street and Hamilton Road in the centre of Bangor. Over nearly two centuries it has served as a market house, court house, rent office, school, town hall and bank, giving it considerable social and historic significance.

The building is five bays wide and two storeys tall, square on plan, with a single-storey return and a two-storey stairwell to the rear. The hipped roof is covered in natural slate with terracotta ridge tiles and a simple brick chimney stack. Cast-iron ogee-profile rainwater goods hang from overhanging moulded eaves. The external walls are finished in painted smooth render or stucco, with quoins at the corners and string courses at both ground and first floor levels.

Windows are generally multi-paned and round-headed at ground floor level, with key-block surrounds. At first floor they are 6-over-6 timber sliding sashes with moulded architraves broken by Gibbsian cubes and a continuous sill, unless otherwise noted.

The principal, west-facing elevation has a slightly projecting three-bay central breakfront beneath a pedimented gable with a clock. The left and right bays each have a single wide window opening with a balustrade parapet. At first floor, the windows of the central entrance bay are slightly recessed, while the architraves of the outer bay windows are set forward. The entrance is formed by a five-panelled timber folding door.

The north elevation has two Venetian windows at first floor and five irregularly spaced openings at ground floor, one of which is a very small window. A large folding heavy metal security gate is positioned to the left. The east elevation is completely enclosed. The south elevation has two bays in the main block, each with a pediment and balustrade parapet. The left bay contains a single round-headed multi-paned window at both ground and first floor. The right bay is slightly recessed and contains a Venetian window with fanlight at first floor, and at ground floor two 6-over-6 sliding sash windows alongside a projecting porch with a four-panelled timber door. The rear return to the right contains five 6-over-6 timber-framed sliding sash windows.

Since its conversion from town hall to bank in 1952 the interior has been continually modernised, and alterations along with the loss of some historic fabric have compromised its character. Nevertheless, the ornate façade displays good craftsmanship and robust neo-classical character, and the building remains a good example of its type.

Historical background

There is some uncertainty about the precise date of construction. A market house is mentioned as early as 1777, but this appears to have been a different building entirely. The Archaeological Survey of Down suggests a date of 1800 to 1810; however, the Ordnance Survey Memoirs and Samuel Lewis both record in the 1830s that the market house had recently been built. An Irish Corporation Commissioners' report appears to confirm the building was not present in 1813 but had been "lately built" by 1835. The building appears on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833, where it is captioned "Market House."

The Townland Valuation of 1828 to 1840 lists the building as the Market House, the property of Lord Bangor and Mr Ward. It is recorded as measuring 60 by 28 by 14 feet, with a ballroom on the upper storey measuring 60 by 28 by 16 feet. The valuation is given as £26 5s in one entry, though another entry gives only £10, possibly reflecting improvements made during the fieldwork period or different methods of calculation. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs describe the building at this early stage as "a small building of recent erection and plain and unfinished appearance," noting that the ground floor was originally arcaded with iron gates, which were later replaced with windows when the building became a school.

By around 1860 the building had taken on a new role as a school and court house, and the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1858 captions it as a "market house and parochial school." Griffith's Valuation of 1856 to 1864 records it in use as a Church Education Society school room (valued at £12), a petty sessions court house (valued at £16), and the rent office of local proprietor Robert E. Ward (valued at £3), with its function as a market house apparently having lapsed. By 1887 the building had ceased to serve as a rent office and court house, and the entire building was taken over as a Church Education Society school house. In 1895 a substantial addition was made to the rear, raising the valuation to £50; the valuer noted that the cost of the entire building was £1,700. The building was redesignated as a "National School and yard" and exempted from valuation. From 1918 it appears to have been known as the Ward Public Elementary School.

An undated photograph, thought to date from around 1925, shows the building as a school, with the legend around the frieze reading "Ward Male Female and Infant National School, erected AD [1780?], enlarged AD 1895." This photograph also records a tower, cupola and chimneys which are now lost, having been removed around 1950 according to Patton. The arrangement of fenestration and entrances has also been altered to provide the building with a central entrance. In 1933 the building became the Town Hall, and in 1952 it became the premises of the Belfast Banking Company, which has since become the Northern Bank.