Royal Bank Of Scotland, Balbirnie Street, Markinch

The Royal Bank of Scotland on Balbirnie Street in Markinch is a late 19th-century building that has been altered at the ground level and incorporates some earlier materials. This two-storey structure with an attic features a three-bay T-plan layout and has been converted into bank premises with a dwelling above. It is situated on a corner site within an irregular terrace to the west. The exterior is made of dressed rubble, squared and snecked rubble, and droved ashlar, with stone cills, a ground floor cornice topped with a modern fascia board, and an eaves course.

The south elevation is symmetrical, showcasing three large ground floor windows with curvilinear horizontal astragals. The center window has been stop-chamfered and altered to accommodate an automatic cash dispenser. Above, there are three regular windows on the first floor and bipartite metal-clad timber dormers over the outer bays.

On the east elevation, there is a two-leaf timber door set in a projecting, round-cornered ashlar doorcase to the left, featuring a Gibbsian surround and a consoled cornice. Above this door, there is a lead-roofed canted and corniced window, along with another window to the outer right at ground level.

The north elevation includes a slightly lower T-projection at the center, with a window to the right at ground level, a stair window at the center, and flanking first floor windows. There is a flat-roofed dormer window above. A timber door is located in a moulded and corniced doorway on the return to the left, with a window beyond to the left at both floors, and additional windows on the recessed face to the left.

The building features a variety of glazing patterns, including 2-, 4-, and 12-pane configurations, with 6-pane upper and 2-pane lower sashes in the dormers, all made of timber sash and case windows. The ground floor windows of the bank have plate glass glazing. The roof is covered with graded grey slates, and there are coped ashlar gablehead stacks with a full complement of polygonal cans and ashlar coped skews, along with bargeboarding and timber spike finials. The eaves gutter is profiled.

Inside, there is a keystoned arch. The boundary walls consist of low saddleback-coped ashlar and tall semicircular-coped rubble.