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

Northern Bank, 28 Church Square, Rathfriland

This is a large, imposing early 20th century bank building incorporating a manager's house on the upper floors. It was purpose-built for the Belfast Banking Company, designed by the Belfast architects Watt, Tulloch and Fitzsimmons around 1912, and constructed in or shortly before 1911 according to Valuation revision records. The building is executed in an eclectic Edwardian Freestyle and stands as the most prominent building in Church Square, at the heart of the town. Its size and scale reflect the importance of Rathfriland as a market town in the early 20th century. Local tradition holds that the building's grandeur owes much to a man named Moses Wilson, who began as a junior official in the Rathfriland branch of the Belfast Bank and rose to become a director of the whole company, reportedly having promised in his early days that he would one day build a magnificent branch in the town. The Belfast Bank amalgamated with the Northern Bank in 1970. The interior was remodelled in the early 1990s, when the main entrance was shifted to its current position on the left bay.

The building is three and a half storeys, detached, and faces west onto the east side of Church Square. It is five bays wide, with the left and right bays advancing slightly forward to give a symmetrical façade. The main structure is red brick in Flemish bond with flush pointing, set on a four-course ashlar basecourse of Newry granite. The ground floor is faced in faience (a form of glazed architectural terracotta), with faience dressings continuing throughout the upper floors. The roof is a hipped natural slate construction across the central block, with lower hipped roofs extending forward over the advanced left and right bays. At the centre of the front roof pitch is a flat-roofed dormer, three panes wide, with the central pane a side-hung casement; the dormer is in timber with a leaded roof and leaded cheeks. An identical dormer appears on the rear pitch. The low ridges extending to the gables to form the lower roofs over the advanced bays are terminated by chimneys rising from each side elevation. The faience eaves cornice is moulded and dentilled, with leaded gutters and fretted parapets and pinnacles over the left and right bays.

Ground floor, front elevation

The small paved area between the building and the street is finished in green and grey terrazzo with a black margin, matching the floor inside the banking hall. The ground floor left bay contains the current main entrance: a pair of large ornate Freestyle doors, each with three vertical bottom panels, two horizontal middle panels, and a large segmental-headed main panel with a moulded coping to its head. Above these are two small panels filling the spandrels over the segmental-headed main panel. All panels except the topmost two are concave moulded. At the junction between the main panel and the top panels is an advanced rectangular block with a moulded cornice, decorated with two interlocking letter Bs in foliated relief — representing the Belfast Bank. Above the doors is a four-panelled leaded transom in obscured glass with applied moulded lead panels in an Art Nouveau style. The doors and transom are deeply set within a rectangular opening with a plain architrave to the granite basecourse and an elaborate run-and-eared architrave above in faience, with a plain keystone to the flat head. On either side, large plain brackets support a flat-headed canopy with a moulded flat-headed roof.

The ground floor right bay is identical to the left, except that the doors have been removed and the opening infilled with granite blocks to match the existing stonework. A rectangular fixed window above advances slightly beyond the line of the transoms, with a small leaded flat roof filling the void between the two.

The three central bays at ground floor each contain a single window opening. The left and right of these 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 cill. The central window was once identical to the others but was opened up as a doorway in the 1970s before being infilled again: the cill is raised by two courses, all the granite is a lighter colour than the surrounding material, and the repair work to the faience has been carried out in an inappropriate cement render. Smaller horizontally divided windows sit above, with an ATM machine set 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 to the door canopies) set to either side of the windows. A modern plastic Northern Bank sign is now set within this fascia.

Upper floors, front elevation

The moulded faience cornice forms the cill course of the first floor windows. The first floor windows of the central block align with those below 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 and a moulded rail between the transom and the lower casements. Each window has a flat head formed by interlocking faience voussoirs. The advanced left and right bays at first floor have faience quoin blocks — four to each side — set between five brick courses. Each advanced bay has a single window matching those of the central block, with narrow sandstone cills. 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, projecting corner pilasters rise up to the roof cornice. These are supported on square projecting blocks and have a moulded string course at second floor window cill 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 window cill is moulded, continues across each bay, and breaks the clasping pilaster. The splayed brick reveals have half-attached faience columns with Ionic capitals at the junction with the clasping pilasters, resting on the cill course. This cill course has a single course of plain faience below it and continues across the three central bays of the façade. Each of the three central bays has a canted bay window detailed in the same way as those to the left and right bays but slightly wider, with a pair of casements to the front face. Splayed brick reveals and half-attached faience columns on the main wall flank the central window. At the left and right, at the junction with the advancing 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 parapet to the front consists of four open segmental-headed arches with moulded copings. On the inner cheek of each advanced side bay is an additional parapet arch, and each outer cheek has four, terminating at the chimneys on the gables.

North elevation

Turning the left corner to the north elevation, the walls are in red brick. At ground floor left is a six-panelled door with the top two panels smaller, concave mouldings, and a three-paned transom above, with an enamel "22" door plate and a large brass letterbox. Immediately to its right is a small two-over-two sliding sash window, vertically divided, with horns, a sandstone cill, and a flat-headed jack arch above. At ground floor right is a larger but similarly detailed one-over-one sash window. At first floor centre is a window similar to the one at ground floor right but with two fixed panes, the top one smaller. To its left is a slightly smaller window with a higher cill level, containing a fixed light with two leaded transoms above. At first floor, to the right of centre, a chimney breast advances on a moulded faience base held on faience blocks; it has faience quoins, and the eaves course — which continues from the façade — steps around it. It is also broken by the moulded second floor cill course, which similarly continues from the façade. At second floor right, this cill serves a steel-framed two-paned casement window with a transom. The cill 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 cill. The heads of both second floor windows are formed by the faience eaves cornice. At roof level the chimney is crossed by the coping of the parapet (continuing from the façade) 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, with a pitched natural slate roof tied into the main roof and timber barges sitting higher than the main block. To the extreme right is a three-storey stairwell return, over which the main roof cat-slides. A single-storey return abuts all but the ground floor left bay, aligned parallel to the main block. The cheeks of all returns are blank unless otherwise noted.

The faience eaves cornice from the front elevation continues across the left bay. 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 sash windows with horns and dressed sandstone cills unless otherwise stated.

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

At first floor, the left window is one-over-one; to its right, on the four-storey return, is a similar but shorter window with frosted glass. To its right on the main wall are two similar but narrower windows set to the left side, and a recessed canted bay window with fixed panes and transoms set to the right side. To the right of these 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 the left of this return is a four-stage brick buttress, each stage with a small pitched natural slate roof, rising from the single-storey rear return.

Second floor windows are smaller in height than 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 — the one closest to the return is one-over-one, and the other is a two-over-two vertically divided sash. Set further to the right 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.

Single-storey rear return

The single-storey return is aligned parallel with the main block. It is narrower on the left side, with an additional lean-to. It has a pitched natural slate roof. Its left gable has two sliding sash windows — one-over-one on the left, and a four-over-four with concrete cill and lintel to its right. The lean-to has three timber doors at the left end: those to left and right are modern, but the central one is sheeted with six fixed panes above, all sharing a concrete lintel. The right half of this return is L-shaped in plan and advances forward on the right side, with 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 advanced right section has a canted bay window under a flat leaded roof sharing eaves with the main roof, with moulded brick eaves and a one-over-one window (top sash smaller) on each cheek; the right cheek window is a French window with a sheeted lining. The right gable of the single-storey return has an advanced central portion that fills its eaves overhang, and to its right is a one-over-one window with a smaller top sash. The right end of this return advances beyond the north elevation of the main building, and its exposed front-facing elevation has a single one-over-one sash window.

To the immediate rear is a paved area, and beyond this a lawn with a ruinous greenhouse in the northeast corner. The garden is enclosed by high rubble stone walls to the south and east and a high red brick wall to the north. 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). Two six-over-six sliding sash windows are on the north side, 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 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 an advanced bay at ground floor right under a hipped natural slate roof, containing a small three-paned fixed window with a flat-headed brick jack arch and a sandstone cill.

Setting and boundary treatment

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 at either end is urn-topped. There are two gates at the right end of the frontage serving a driveway to the garage, a pair of gates to the ATM at the centre of the façade, and another set to the main entrance on the left bay.

Interior

The building retains much of its original leaded glass and a number of good chimney pieces. The banking hall floor is finished in green and grey terrazzo with a black margin, matching the paved area outside the entrance.