Northern Bank, 28 Church Square, Rathfriland, Newry, Co Down, BT34 5PT

This detached early 20th-century bank building occupies the east side of Church Square. It stands three and a half storeys high and is five openings wide, with a manager's house occupying the upper floors. The building is constructed in red brick laid in Flemish bond with elaborate faience (glazed terracotta) detailing throughout. The left and right bays project slightly forward, creating a symmetrical composition.

The roof structure comprises a hipped natural slate roof across the central block, with lower hipped roofs extending forward over the projecting side bays. At the centre of both the front and rear roof pitches are flat-roofed dormers, three panes wide, with the central pane being a side-hung casement. These dormers are timber-framed with leaded roofs and cheeks. The low ridges extending to form gables over the projecting bays terminate in chimneys rising from each side elevation. A moulded and dentilled faience eaves cornice runs around the building, supporting leaded gutters and carrying fretted parapets with pinnacles over the left and right bays.

Front Elevation

The west-facing front elevation features a four-course ashlar granite basecourse in Newry granite, with a faience ground floor. The upper floors are red brick with flush pointing and faience dressings. The ground floor of the left bay contains the current entrance to the building. The small paved area between the entrance and the street is surfaced in green and grey terrazzo with a black margin, matching the floor of the banking hall.

The entrance consists of a pair of large ornate Free Style doors. Each door has three vertical bottom panels, two horizontal middle panels, and a large segmental-headed main panel with moulded coping. Two small top panels fill the spandrels above the segmental-headed main panel. All panels except the top two are concave moulded. Where the main panel meets the top panels, an advanced rectangular block projects, featuring a moulded cornice decorated with two interlocking Bs (representing the Belfast Bank) set in foliated relief. Above the doors is a four-panelled leaded transom in obscured glass with applied moulded lead panels in Art Nouveau style. The doors and transom are deeply set within a rectangular opening with a plain architrave at the granite basecourse and an elaborate rung and eared architrave above in faience, with a plain keystone to the flat head. Large plain brackets on either side support a flat-headed canopy with a moulded roof.

The right bay at ground floor mirrors the left bay, except that the doors have been removed and the opening infilled with matching granite blocks. Above this is a rectangular fixed window that projects beyond the line of the transoms, with a small leaded flat roof in the void between.

The three central bays at ground floor each contain a single window opening. The left and right windows consist of a fixed square main light with a smaller rectangular transom above, separated by a moulded timber rail. The top course of the granite basecourse forms the chamfered flush sill. The central window was originally similar but was opened up as a doorway in the 1970s before being infilled again. The sill is raised by two courses, and all the granite is a lighter colour. The repair work to the faience is in inappropriate cement render. Smaller horizontally divided windows are set above, with an ATM machine in granite below.

Above the three central windows, forming their lintels, is an elaborate advanced entablature incorporating the bank fascia, supported on four brackets matching those of the door canopies. These brackets are set to either side of the windows. A modern plastic "Northern Bank" sign is now set within the fascia. The moulded faience cornice forms the sill course of the first-floor windows.

The first-floor windows of the central block align with the ground-floor windows but are narrower. Each is timber-framed with a side-hung steel casement to the left and a matching fixed light to the right, with a transom above separated by a moulded rail. Each window has a flat head with faience lintels formed by interlocking voussoirs.

The projecting left and right bays at first floor have faience quoin blocks (four to each side) set between five brick courses. Each projecting bay has a single window matching those of the central block, with narrow sandstone sills. Below the window on the right bay is a modern internally lit bank sign and a security alarm box.

Starting at first-floor window head level on the left and right bays are projecting corner pilasters rising to the roof cornice. These are supported on square projecting blocks and have a moulded string course at second-floor window sill level.

At second-floor level, recessed between each pilaster is a canted bay window. The cheeks have fixed lights (horizontally divided with a smaller top pane). The central pane is a steel casement with a fixed transom above. The moulded window sill continues across each bay, breaking through the clasping pilasters. The splayed brick reveals have half-attached faience columns with Ionic capitals at the junction with the clasping pilasters, resting on the sill course. This sill course has a single course of plain faience below and continues across the three central bays of the facade.

Each of the central bays has a canted bay window detailed like those to the left and right bays but slightly wider, with a pair of casements to the front face. The splayed brick reveals match the side bays. On the main wall flanking the central window are half-attached faience columns as before. At left and right, at the junction with the projecting bays, are similar three-quarter-attached columns. All columns support the eaves cornice, and above each window is a plain faience eaves soffit.

The clasping pilasters to the left and right bays rise above the eaves in square blocks with moulded top parapets. Above this line are octagonal pinnacle blocks with jaunty caps and tall dish-topped copper finials. The front parapet consists of four open segmental-headed arches with moulded copings. On the inner cheek of each projecting side bay is an additional parapet arch, and each outer cheek has four arches terminating at the chimneys on the gables.

North (Left) Elevation

The north elevation is red brick and is slightly abutted at ground floor left by the single-storey rear return. At ground floor left is a six-panelled door (the top two panels smaller) with concave mouldings and a three-paned transom above. The door has an enamel "22" plate and a large brass letterbox. Immediately to its right is a small two-over-two sliding sash window, vertically divided with horns and a sandstone sill with a flat-headed jack arch above. At ground floor right is a much larger but similarly detailed one-over-one sash window.

At first-floor centre is a window similar to that at ground floor right but with two fixed panes, the top one smaller. To its left is a slightly smaller window with a higher sill level containing a fixed light with two leaded transoms above.

At first floor (right of centre), a chimney breast projects on a moulded faience base supported by faience blocks. It has faience quoins, and the eaves course (which continues from the facade) steps around it. It is also broken by the moulded second-floor sill course, which also continues from the facade.

At second floor right, this sill serves a steel-framed two-paned casement window with transom. The sill course terminates on the chimney breast and does not continue to the rear. To the left of the chimney breast at second floor is a one-over-one sliding sash with horns and a moulded faience sill. The heads of both second-floor windows are formed by the faience eaves cornice.

The chimney at roof level is crossed by the coping of the parapet (which continues from the facade) and by two flush faience plat bands. It breaks into three stacks with moulded faience blocks at the base of each opening. Each stack has a single terracotta pot on a shared concrete coping with a scotia moulded edge.

Rear Elevation

The rear elevation has three returns. One to the left of centre is four storeys high and shallow, rising the full height of the building. It has a pitched natural slate roof tied into the main roof, with timber bargeboards higher than the main block. To the extreme right is a three-storey stairwell return over which the main roof catslides. Abutting all but the ground floor left bay is a single-storey return aligned parallel to the main block. The cheeks of all returns are blank unless otherwise stated. The remaining rear wall is red brick.

The eaves cornice from the front elevation continues across the left bay of the building. The remaining eaves are timber with exposed rafter tails supporting half-round cast iron gutters. All windows to the rear elevation of the main block are sliding sashes with horns and dressed sandstone sills unless otherwise stated.

The ground floor left has a canted bay window with three panes to each cheek and two small later casement panes to the front pane. The flat leaded roof has ogee cast iron gutters. The remainder of the ground floor is abutted by the single-storey return.

First floor left is a one-over-one window; to its right (on the four-storey return) is a similar shorter window with frosted glass. To its right on the main wall are two similar but narrower windows set to the left side; and set to the right side is a recessed canted bay window with fixed panes and transoms. To its right is the three-storey return with a similar window between ground and first floors and another between first and second floors. Abutting the wall to its left is a four-stage brick buttress (each stage with a small pitched natural slate roof) rising from the single-storey rear return.

The second-floor windows diminish in height compared with those on the first floor. On the left bay is a one-over-one window; to its right the return is blank, and to the right of the return are two small windows set to the left. That closest to the return is one-over-one and the other is a two-over-two vertically divided sash window. Set to the right of these is a three-over-three vertically divided sash window. The third floor of the left return (in its gable) has a one-over-one window.

The single-storey return is aligned parallel with the main block. It is narrower at the left side with an additional lean-to. It has a pitched natural slate roof. Its left gable has two sliding sash windows: the left one is one-over-one and to its right is four-over-four (the latter with concrete sill and lintel). The lean-to has three timber doors at the left end. Those to the left and right are modern, but the central one is sheeted with six fixed panes above. All share a concrete lintel.

The right half is L-planned and projects forward at the right side. It has a gable to the left and a hip to the right of the roof. At its left side is a large modern casement window. The projecting right section has a canted bay window under a flat leaded roof sharing eaves with the main roof. The bay has moulded brick eaves and a one-over-one window (the top sash smaller) on each cheek. That to the right cheek is a French window with sheeted lining.

The right gable of the single-storey return has an advanced central portion that fills its eaves overhang. To its right is a one-over-one window (the top sash smaller). The right end of this return projects beyond the north elevation of the main building. The exposed front-facing elevation has a single one-over-one sash window.

To the immediate rear is a paved area, and beyond is a lawn with a ruinous greenhouse in the northeast corner. High rubble stone walls to the south and east, and a high red brick wall to the north enclose the garden. Abutting the south wall is a lean-to garage with a natural slate roof and red brick walls, with an up-and-over door to the front (west). There are two six-over-six sliding sash windows to the north with an infilled door and a tongue-and-groove sheeted door to their left. The rear gable (east) has a one-over-one modern casement window.

South (Right) Elevation

The south elevation shares an identical chimney to that on the north elevation and a similar second-floor front window. The remainder of this elevation is blank with the exception of a projecting bay at ground floor right under a hipped natural slate roof. At the centre of the bay is a small three-paned fixed window with a flat-headed brick jack arch and sandstone sill.

Setting

The forecourt is enclosed by railings on ten square faience piers on a chamfered sandstone basecourse. All piers are dome-capped with an advanced embrasure clasping each dome. The sandstone basecourse continues as a dwarf wall below the railings. Between the piers are gates and railings all similarly detailed with plain vertical spikes, alternate wavy dog bars, and swag-topped rails. Each main vertical post (to either end) is urn-topped. There are two gates to the right end of the frontage serving a driveway to the garage, a pair of gates to the ATM at the centre of the facade, and another set to the main entrance on the left bay.