Northern Bank, 1 Killinchy Street, Comber, Co. Down, BT23 5AP

Northern Bank, Comber

This is a long, two-storey building with a hipped roof, probably dating from before 1834, now heavily altered through its conversion to banking use. It stands on the west side of the north end of Killinchy Street, close to the south-west corner of The Square.

The east front façade features an elliptical arched doorway with a timber door set in a red Dumfriesshire sandstone surround with label moulding, in and out dressings and chamfered reveal. This doorway was repositioned in recent years and originally stood further to the left. To the left of the doorway is a large modern bank window with PVC corporate signage above. Three tall modern windows (door-like in proportion) follow to the left, and at the far left stands an ATM with a projecting PVC sign. The first floor has seven evenly spaced windows with modern frames. The shorter south façade has a recessed doorway with a modern door to the left of the ground floor, with two square modern windows to its right. The first floor has three similar windows. To the left, the façade merges with the south face of a mainly single-storey rear extension. This extension face has a recessed doorway with a roller shutter. The north façade displays a large modern bank window to the ground floor with two windows with modern frames above. The entire façade is finished in plain painted render. The roof is hipped and covered in natural slate, with all original chimney stacks removed. Rainwater goods are PVC.

The rear elevation shows a doorway on the first floor with a metal-sheeted door leading to the roof of the extension, flanked by two windows matching those on the south façade. The rear extension includes a small two-storey section with what appears to be a window to its short north face. The west side of the extension is blank, backing against a boundary wall.

Historical Development

The site appears on the 1722 map of Comber, though the crude nature of that map makes certainty difficult. By 1834, when the first Ordnance Survey map was produced, the site was clearly occupied. Valuation records from 1834 indicate the building then belonged to John Barry and comprised an inn section to the north and centre with offices (additional rooms) to the south end. The valuers noted the building was regarded as reasonably old even at that date. The 1837 Ordnance Survey Memoirs confirm this as J. Barry's inn, which served as the monthly venue for the local manor court. The attorney Alexander Montgomery, whose house now forms No. 13 The Square (adjacent to the north), lived immediately to the west. Killinchy Street itself was known as Barry Street on the 1834 Ordnance Survey map, suggesting the Barry family played a significant role in developing this thoroughfare.

By 1861, the building was in the possession of Joseph Shean, who from 1870 operated the local post office from the premises. The later history remains unclear until the Northern Bank acquired the building, establishing it as their local branch, likely by the 1960s. Since then, the bank has undertaken period modifications including the repositioning of the sandstone-dressed entrance.