Northern Bank, 60 Main Street, Portrush, Co. Antrim, BT56 8BL

Former Northern Bank, 60 Main Street, Portrush

This is a detached two-storey building with attic, built in 1898 as a branch of the Belfast Bank to designs by the prominent Ulster architect Vincent Craig. Prominently situated at the junction of Main Street and Church Pass in Portrush town centre, the building is an early example of the free style movement and retains much of its original character despite some minor later alterations. The contractors were McLaughlin & Harvey, who were also responsible for several of Portrush's most significant buildings, including the railway station and the Northern Counties Hotel.

The building replaced an earlier mid-19th century school and rent office belonging to the Earl of Antrim, which had been valued at just £10. When first recorded in valuation records in 1898, the new bank and yard was valued at £120. The cost of construction was £3,300, and notably the building materials were brought from Belfast rather than sourced locally. The building served not only as a banking hall but also as the bank manager's residence, with the banking hall occupying the front of the building and the manager's spacious accommodation to the rear and on the upper floors — comprising a large drawing room, sitting room, dining room, kitchen, pantry, scullery, six bedrooms, a box room, bathroom, and WC.

The 1901 census records the occupier as William S. Gordon, a 44-year-old branch manager who lived with his wife, two young children, and two live-in servants (a general domestic and a nursemaid). By 1911, the manager was William J. McMurray, aged 54, a Canadian-born resident whose wife Rhoda had been born in Queen's County; they too had two young children and two live-in servants.

In 1970, the Northern Banking Company Limited — founded in Belfast in 1809 — merged with the Belfast Banking Company Limited to form Northern Bank Limited. The bank was subsequently acquired by the Danish-based Danske Bank Group in 2005, and in 2011 the Portrush branch was earmarked for closure, leaving the building vacant as of 2012.

The building has an L-shaped plan with a two-storey rear return and a polygonal single-storey extension to the rear. The roof is pitched natural slate with terracotta ridge tiles and raised gables with sandstone verges to the north. Red brick chimneystacks with moulded caps rise from the gables. The deep overhanging eaves have exposed rafter ends and are fitted with cast-iron ogee rainwater goods; cast-iron downpipes and hoppers complete the rainwater system.

The walls are Flemish-bonded red brick with sandstone dressings, including a sandstone platband and string course above the ground floor windows and at sill and lintel level on the tower. Windows are a variety of timber casements, some original with Art Nouveau style leaded lights to their upper sections; all have chamfered sandstone sills. A mullioned and transomed oriel window is positioned at first floor level on the principal elevation.

The west-facing principal elevation is three bays wide and four openings across at ground floor level. The most striking feature is the three-stage tower at the northwest corner, which is slightly corbelled over a sandstone base at first floor level and topped by an overhanging bracketed conical copper roof surmounted by a weathervane. The tower has a deep festooned frieze with oculi and is lit by windows only at the upper stages, all with decorative leaded glass panels to their upper sections. The right bay is gabled, rising to the attic and resting on scrolled kneelers.

The main entrance is the second opening from the left on the ground floor: a Tudorbethan style doorway with a modern timber double-leaf door set in a three-centred arched opening with three small similarly profiled lights above. The surround is moulded sandstone, surmounted by a deep drip canopy enriched with scrolled detail and flanked by drop moulding supporting stone lions clasping shields bearing the initials "BB" (for Belfast Bank). The remaining three ground floor openings are timber tripartite windows. At first floor, a narrow casement sits above the entrance; to the left is a wide three-centred arched window opening; to the right is the transomed and mullioned oriel window with leaded lights to the upper sections. The attic above is lit by a small casement window.

The north elevation is dominated by a tall gabled bay to the right, which has a tripartite window at attic level, two three-paned windows at first floor, and three three-paned windows at ground floor. The left bay has a lower gablet breaking the eaves midway, containing an attic window, with a scrolled bracket at the left corner and a finial at the apex. Tripartite windows are positioned to the right at both first and ground floor; to the left at ground floor is a secondary entrance door accessed by six stone steps. This door is a five-panel raised-and-fielded timber door with brass door furniture and a plain transom light, surmounted by a corniced canopy on console brackets with a window above at first floor level.

The east (rear) elevation has a projecting gabled bay at right, further abutted by a lower gabled return. The left bay has a 1/1 sash window at both first and ground floor levels. The gabled bay has a camber-headed bipartite casement at attic level to the left of a projecting chimney flue. The left cheek of the gabled bay has a leaded glass window at second floor, a three-paned window at first floor, and a window at ground floor. The exposed section to the right of the return has a window at each floor. The return has overhanging timber-sheeted eaves and three modern windows to the gable, and is abutted at ground floor level by the polygonal red brick extension. The right cheek of the extension has an enlarged window at eaves level to the right and a tripartite window in a segmental-headed surround at ground floor. The left cheek has a window under a gablet at centre and two small windows at first floor left, plus three windows at ground floor. Each face of the polygonal single-storey extension — which is styled to match the main building — has a small cambered window; the extension is abutted at its east face by a timber-sheeted door enclosing the rear yard. The south elevation has a variety of irregularly arranged fenestration with two windows at each floor.

Historically, several minor changes have been made to the building. A dormer that existed at the time of construction was removed after 1973. A first floor balcony had been glazed over by 1973. The front doorway was originally approached through an entrance porch, which was subsequently fitted with outer doors by 1973. All windows are replacements, as are the railings surrounding the building, which appear originally to have been wrought iron. The building was listed in 1977. In 1983, repairs were carried out to the brickwork using some new purpose-made bricks. Ramped access was fitted to the front of the building in the 1980s.

The building is prominently sited at the junction of Main Street and Church Pass, directly south of Holy Trinity Parish Church. The listing extent includes the bank itself, the stone steps, the low-level walling, and the detached red brick garage to the east, which has timber-sheeted folding doors opening onto Church Pass. Stepped and ramped access to the front is enclosed by a red brick wall with a modern handrail. To the north is a low red brick wall with sandstone coping topped by painted railings. The rear yard is enclosed by a high Flemish-bonded red brick wall with a timber-sheeted gate opening to the north.