Bank of Ireland, 12 Trevor Hill, Newry, Co Down, BT34 1DN

Bank of Ireland, 12 Trevor Hill, Newry

This is a three-storey building with basement, constructed in 1826 to a design by Francis Johnston of Armagh — the architect whose career was shaped by his patronage under Primate Robinson. It was built on the site of an earlier gaol and holds the distinction of being the first branch of the Bank of Ireland established in Ulster, making it the oldest surviving commercial building in Newry still serving its original purpose. The 1838 valuation book accorded it the highest valuation on Trevor Hill.

The building is constructed throughout in Newry granite and presents a symmetrical classical revival facade of considerable civic presence on the east side of Trevor Hill. Flanking coach arches sit to either side of the main frontage, with original railings to the side elevations surviving on chamfered base walls with plain spiked tops. The facade railings, by contrast, are poor-quality modern reproductions — black-painted vertical bars with cast spearheads, clumsily bolted onto the original chamfered granite plinth wall. A small fragment of the original cast-iron facade railing survives at the right, apparently the clawed foot of a post.

The roof is hipped natural slate with a central valley at ridge level. A pair of small hipped roofs project over a full-height extension to the rear elevation. There is a parapet gutter to the facade and plastic rainwater goods to the other elevations. Five chimneys rise from the roof: two to the left at right angles to the facade and two to the right parallel with it, all rectangular in section and finely dressed ashlar granite with moulded copings. A fifth chimney, square in section and cement-rendered, rises from the wall head at the right of the rear elevation.

The walls vary in finish according to their position and importance. The basement, side and rear elevations are roughly dressed ashlar. The ground floor front facade is ashlar with V-channelled rustication. The upper floors are fine dressed ashlar. Wall detailing on the facade includes a chamfered projecting stringcourse between the basement and ground floor (continued on the side elevations), a plain projecting sill course with moulded throating between the ground and first floors, and a parapet decorated with a double raised stringcourse. The side and rear elevations have plain projecting eaves courses.

Seven granite steps, supported by a buttress at basement level, lead from the street to the main entrance at the centre of the facade. The doorway is set within a shallow semicircular-headed recess with voussoirs delineated by V-channelled rustication, the wall within being smoothly dressed ashlar. A pair of three-fielded panelled painted replacement timber doors with modern brass furniture are set between two granite fluted Doric columns beneath an entablature. Above the doors, inset into the smooth ashlar, is a fanlight with decorative lead tracery. Above the fanlight, the words "Bank of Ireland" are painted directly onto the ashlar in gold and black letters, and a modern oval bank logo is fixed to the centre of the fanlight base.

The two coach arches flanking the facade at ground floor level are segmental-headed, set within smooth ashlar granite walls with plain projecting copings. The left arch gives vehicular and pedestrian access to the rear of the building and is fitted with a pair of large modern sheet-metal doors with a wicket gate, plus a modern projecting Bank of Ireland sign over the arch. The right arch has been infilled with reconstituted stone blocks and now houses an automatic telling machine.

All windows to the facade are sliding sashes with recessed boxes and horns. At basement level there are three equally spaced openings, each with three-part lintels with keystones and granite post-and-block reveals. The left and centre basement windows are 6/3 sliding sashes with granite sills; the right basement window has been infilled with granite blocks and its sill removed. At ground floor level, two identical tripartite windows sit on either side of the central door. Each consists of a 6/6 sash flanked on both sides by a 2/2 sash window, with a granite sill and a moulded granite architrave with frieze and projecting cornice over; the words "Bank of Ireland" are affixed to each frieze in gold letters. The three first-floor windows are 6/6 sliding sashes aligned with the openings below, resting on the granite sill course with similar moulded architraves and entablatures to those at ground floor, and with three horizontal metal bars to their lower sections. Three second-floor windows are 6/6 sliding sashes, diminished in height relative to those below, sitting on granite sills with ashlar voussoired heads flush to the facade.

The left elevation is built in squared granite blocks laid in courses, with stepped ashlar quoins to the right corner and a raised chamfered stringcourse between the ground floor and basement. There are four openings to each floor. At basement level, reading left to right: a louvred opening (possibly a former window) with a raised sill — the basement paving has been raised up to its new sill level — with vents and pipes entering; a modern sheet-metal door set within a larger opening that has been narrowed with cement render to the right, with steps rising to ground level; and two former windows, now infilled with lined cement render, the third partially obscured by the steps and the fourth with a raised sill where the basement paving has been raised. The four ground-floor openings are identical 6/6 sliding sashes with granite sills, keystoned lintels and post-and-block reveals; the second from left has had its glass painted black from the inside, and all ground-floor windows on this elevation have modern painted metal security bars. First and second floor windows are identical to those at ground floor, with second-floor windows diminished in height.

The rear elevation is constructed as the left elevation. It is largely obscured at ground floor and upper floors to the left by the modern extension. The remaining original openings are two 6/6 sliding sashes to the first and second floors, identical to those on the left elevation. A modern extension abuts the full width of the ground floor at the rear and rises the full height of the building to the left; it is constructed in reconstituted stone. This extension has a flat roof to its single-storey section, with vertical floor-to-ceiling windows along its rear and left elevations, and a projecting modern porch with door in the left elevation. The right elevation of the extension has no openings. The extension stairwell, abutting the rear left of the original building, has one fixed 3/3 window on its right cheek, two further fixed 3/3 windows on its left cheek (one each at first and second floor level), and a blank rear wall.

The right elevation is constructed as the left, with stepped ashlar quoins to the left side and a chamfered stringcourse between the ground floor and basement. This elevation is three openings wide; the central bay opens to the stairwell and windows therefore appear at different levels. The two basement openings to the left and right have been infilled with lined cement render. The central basement opening has a segmental head and contains a tripartite window: a 6/3 sliding sash in the centre flanked by two 1/1 sliding sashes. At ground floor level: the left opening is partially abutted by the autobank structure, with its remaining opening infilled; the central opening, below the half-landing window, is a modern sheet-metal escape door with a cement surround, bridging the basement by means of a modern metal fire escape stair; the right opening is a 6/6 sliding sash with no horns, a granite sill and modern metal security bars. Between the ground and first floors, at the centre of this elevation, is a segmental-headed opening containing a tripartite landing window consisting of a 6/6 sliding sash flanked by 2/2 sashes, with a modern metal security grille over. At first floor level, the left opening is a blind 6/6 sliding sash with horns and glass painted black internally; the right is a 6/6 sliding sash with horns. Centred between the first and second floors is a segmental-headed opening containing a tripartite window: a 6/6 sliding sash flanked by 1/2 sashes, all without horns. At second floor level: a 6/6 sliding sash with no horns to the left; a 3/3 sliding sash with no horns in the centre over the tripartite window; and a 6/6 sliding sash with no horns to the right. A modern automatic teller machine structure links the right elevation to the right coach arch.

The rear yard is enclosed by random rubble stone boundary walls. At its eastern end, a steep bank and a rubble stone wall with an arched opening provide access to an outbuilding. This outbuilding is two storeys with a pitched natural slate roof, rubble stone walls and tongue-and-groove sheeted openings.

Although externally the building remains an imposing statement of refined architectural quality, it has lost much of its original internal character through renovation. Original detailing is now confined to the external fabric, the stairwell, and some rooms on the upper floors.