2 BANK PLACE

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Mid terrace three-storey three-bay stone-faced and painted rendered former bank building, built c.1816. Rectangular on plan with painted stone dressings, string-course between ground and first floor levels and corner quoin stones on front elevation. Principal elevation faces north-east onto Bank Place directly overlooking the City Walls set within the Historic Walled City. Pitched slate roof has a large rendered chimney stack rising from the south-west elevation to the rear with three circular clay pots.

NE principal elevation is of painted render with stone dressings; painted rustication on ground floor with three unequal segmental arch headed bays, right side opening originally a carriage way, now filled in with block work rendered and painted with a square-headed painted timber casement window concealed to the inside with a plywood sheet. Left side bay is now a shop front with a replacement square-headed painted flush timber entrance door with a small transom light above. Central bay has a recessed doorway with a diagonally-sheeted single leaf timber door, plain architrave surround and plain fanlight above. Two left bays have diamond-faced keystones. Painted stone string-course between ground and first floor level; upper floors have chamfered stone quoins; all window openings on first floor are square-headed with moulded stone surrounds on stone sills, first floor sills are deep resting on the cornice above ground floor, pediment to central bay on first floor, second floor windows are smaller diminishing in scale, first and second floor windows are replacement 1/1 timber sliding sashes.

South-west elevation to the rear has a large rendered chimney stack with three circular clay pots - access was not possible at time of survey.

North-west and south-east elevations are adjoined to neighbouring properties No.1 & No.3-4 Bank Place (HB01/19/035B).

Slate finish to main pitched roof with large rendered chimney stack. Cast-iron guttering and circular downpipe to front elevation.

Materials:
Roof Slate
RWG Cast Iron
Walling Painted render and stone dressings
Windows Timber Sliding Sash and timber casements

Setting:
Located on the south-west side of Bank Place directly overlooking the City Walls, situated within the Historic City Walls, an area of former local savings banks within the Historic City Conservation Area.

Historical information

No. 2 Bank Place, a three-storey three-bay Georgian building located between nos 3-4 Bank Place (HB01/19/035B) and the former Northern Bank (HB01/19/036), was constructed in c. 1816 and remained in use as a savings bank for 150 years.

Bank Place was originally unnamed but was known as Schoales Lane in the 1830s. No. 2 Bank Place was originally occupied by the local Savings Bank. Mitchell states that the ‘failure of the Bank of Ireland to move out of Dublin left the north of Ireland dependent for financial services on private banks, merchants and bill-discounters.’ Local businessmen in the city had established a local banking system in the early-19th century but Hume states, that following the establishment of the first Bank of Ireland on Shipquay Street in 1825 ‘growing satisfaction with the service they provided diminished the desire to establish an independent bank in the north-west’ (Mitchell, p. 64; Hume, p. 138). The Ordnance Survey Memoirs note that No. 2 Bank Place had been constructed by 1816. On 24th February of that year the members of the Savings Bank met for the first time. The memoir writer noted that the Savings Bank was founded as a benevolent society ‘to enable the working classes to amass the fruits of their industry’ and also recorded that the bank was managed by nine directors, an accountant, a secretary, treasurer and an actuary (OSM, pp 175-176). The Townland Valuation (1832) set the value of the building at over £60 and noted that the building included a counting office with a dwelling located on the upper floors.

By the 1850s the Savings Bank had been acquired by the Belfast Banking Co. (which had established a branch bank on the corner of Shipquay Street and Bank Place by 1825) and had been decreased in value to £40. The Savings Bank continued to be administered by its Trustees but the building was leased by the Directors of the Belfast Bank. The Londonderry Corporation Map (1857) records that the street continued to be known as Schoales Lane in the 1850s but this was changed to Bank Lane by the c. 1873 Annual Revisions map. The 1857 map depicted the Savings Bank as a rectangular-shaped structure that closely follows the layout of the current building and possessed a large outbuilding (now demolished). The layout of the building was not changed by the late-19th century when it is believed the building was rebuilt or heavily remodelled into its current appearance. The historical map and valuation evidence would suggest that the building was merely remodelled and does in fact date from the early-19th century. The 1899 Valuation Plan and a contemporary c. 1900 photograph of the building records that the ground floor arch to the right of the entrance door was originally a coach arch that led to the building’s rear yard. The photograph also notes that the cill under the pedimented central window was originally engraved with the words ‘Savings Bank’ but this has now been removed. Although many banks within the city also possessed accommodation for the bank managers, the Census of Ireland records that by 1901 No. 2 Bank Place was solely utilised as business premises with the adjoining No. 1 Bank Place occupied as a dwelling by the manager of the Belfast Banking Co. The c. 1900 photograph of Bank Place shows that No. 1 Bank Place did not possess a rusticated ground floor but was altered in the 20th century to more closely resemble the Georgian character of its neighbour.

The Savings Bank continued to occupy No. 2 Bank Place until the 1960s. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the value of the building was increased to £80. The building fell vacant in 1966 but in 1969 it was acquired by Edmiston, Keys & Co. and became part of their property at nos 35-37 Shipquay Street (HB01/19/035). By the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the former Savings Bank was jointly valued with nos 35-37 Shipquay Street at £1,040. No. 2 Bank Place was included in the Historic City Conservation Area in 1977 and was listed in 1988. The building lay vacant by the 1980s and had fallen into an advanced state of disrepair by 2012. In that year the façade of No. 2 Bank Place was restored as part of a general renovation to all the buildings along the street (NIEA HB Records).

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/5/20/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1830)
2. PRONI OS/6/5/20/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1853)
3. PRONI VAL/12/E/157/1/11 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1873-1910)
4. PRONI VAL/1/B/547E – Townland Valuation (1832)
5. PRONI VAL/1/D/5/9B – Townland Valuation Town Plan (1834)
6. PRONI VAL/2/B/5/16C – Griffith’s Valuation (1856)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/32/11A-11ZD – Annual Revisions (1860-1897)
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/1A-1B – Annual Revisions (1897-1929)
9. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/10 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
10. PRONI VAL/4/B/13 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
11. Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Londonderry (1837)
12. Ulster Town Directories (1843-1943)
13. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
14. First Survey Record – HB01/19/036B (No Date)
15. First Survey Image – HB01/19/036B (No Date)
16. NIEA HB Records – HB01/19/036B
17. Foyle Civic Trust: Living City Project (Bank Place) – includes 1899 Valuation Map.

Secondary Sources
1. Calley, D., ‘City of Derry: An historical gazetteer to the buildings of Londonderry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2013 – includes Londonderry Corporation Map (1857)
2. Ferguson, W. S; Rowan, A. J; Tracey, J. J., ‘List of historic buildings, groups of buildings, areas of architectural importance in and near the city of Derry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1970.
3. Hume, J., ‘Derry beyond the walls: Social and economic aspects of the growth of Derry 1825-1850’ Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 2002.
4. Rowan, A. J., ‘The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster’ London: Yale University Press, 2003.
5. ‘A design guide for the Historic City Conservation Area Londonderry’ Belfast: Department of the Environment, 2012.

Online Resources
1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie/

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
H-. Alterations detracting from building
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
X. Local Interest
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance

Evaluation

Mid terrace three-storey three-bay stone-faced and painted rendered former bank building, built c.1816. Principal elevation faces north-east onto Bank Place directly overlooking the City Walls within the Historic Walled City. Built as the local savings bank, it was remodelled in the late-19th century. Despite the infilling of the original arched openings on ground floor level which detracts from the original fenestration pattern, there is sufficient detailing remaining to the front elevation. It has group value with the former Northern Bank on the corner of Bank Place and Shipquay Street (HB01/19/036). It remained in use as a savings bank for 150 years giving it social importance within the Historic City Conservation Area.