Provincial House, 15 - 17 High Street, Omagh, Co. Tyrone, BT78 1BA

An attached three-storey-over-basement sandstone Italian Gothic former bank with attic, dated 1864, built by Mr. McGaughey to designs probably by W. G. Murray, located at south of High Street. L-shaped on plan, four-opening-wide, facing north; two-storey return attached to rear by three-storey linking catslide block. Hipped natural slate roof, lead ridge and hip caps, ashlar sandstone chimneystacks with moulded caps and replacement terracotta chimneypots, parapet gutters with rectangular cast-iron downpipes and hopper-heads. Walling is ashlar sandstone over splayed plinth with moulded stringcourses between floors; parapet with splayed coping over entablature with fascia has simple starburst roundels and deeply projecting moulded cornice. Windows are round-headed painted timber 1/1 sashes, splayed sandstone sills, stop-end-chamfered reveals with hoodmoulds. Principal (north) elevation upper floor has roundels to centre; that to second floor has embossed date “1864,” that to first floor has embossed “P I B;” first and second floors have four windows, first floor windows have engaged colonette jambs with cusped capitals, foliated archivolts, foliated label-ended hoodmoulds; ground floor centre has two windows flanked to either side by an entrance, detailed as first floor (but without sculpted archivolts); full cusped colonette between windows (replacement plate glass casements); entrances are round-headed replacement timber and glazed double door with glazed tympanum, engaged cusped colonette jambs, moulded archivolts and hoodmould; left entrance is detailed as right but is diminished and slightly projecting, stained and varnished timber raised-and-fielded four-panelled double-leaf doors, doorcase spandrels flanked by granite colonettes at corners. East elevation is abutted by adjoining building. Exposed section second floor to right is blank, detailed as principal elevation; that to right is blank and cement rendered. Rear (south) elevation is abutted by linking block to right; exposed section walling is square and tooled basalt rubble with cut quoins, single square-headed casement window at third floor, abutted by modern external metal stairs at first floor. Linking block is abutted by return; exposed section is partially cement rendered and elsewhere detailed as rear elevation; all elevations are blank. Return is cement rendered and has two square-headed painted timber 2/2 sashes to each floor, right cheek is blank, left cheek has variety of modern casement windows. Setting:- The former bank is situated on an elevated site sloping down from west to east on High Street; it is opposite the Ulster Bank (HB11/13/015) adjacent to several other High Street banks and the Court House (HB11/13/001). Roof: Natural slate Walling Sandstone Window: Timber RWG: Cast-iron