Former Belfast Bank

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Small, compact one and a half storey stone-faced bank of 1935 with vague stylised ‘neo-Jacobethan’ feel. The property is situated at the corner of Toberwine Street and Vennel Street.

The front (W) elevation is asymmetrical. To the right is a half glazed double door with a large square four pane fanlight over. The door and fanlight sit within a tall shallow recess. To the left are two large window recesses each with deep chamfered sills and recent four pane timber frames (with hopper openers). Above the windows, in each of the recesses, is a blank ‘panel’. To the centre of the upper level is a vaguely Flemish semicircular gable half-dormer with a small window to the centre (with recent frame).

The S elevation is gabled (in slightly Tudoresque fashion) and is set back from the pavement (with a low wall with wrought iron railings enclosing a small paved area). To the left of centre on the main elevation are two windows with recesses, as ground level front, except that the windows themselves are set slightly higher within the recesses. To first floor and centred within the gable are two small narrow windows with recent two pane frames within recesses as before. Between ground and first floor is a fine moulded string course. To the far right is a low single storey flat roofed extension which is set back (c.200mm) from the main elevation. This has two evenly spaced windows with recent looking frames. To the right side a rain water outlet discharges into a decorative hopper head.

Views of the rear elevation are hampered by an out house and the return of the adjoining property. To the rear there is a storey and a half lean-to return the roof of which merges (but at a shallower angle) with the main roof; this extension obscures the right hand side of the E side of the rear of the bank and overlaps the rear of No. 62 slightly. To the centre of the roof is a small windowless gabled ‘dormer’. To either side are cast iron skylights– one to the left and two to the right. To the of this E is a tall single storey flat roofed extension; this extends the same width as the lean-to extension and completely obscures the E wall of the lean-to. To the E face of the tall flat roofed extension is a lower flat roofed extension; this has two modern grilled windows to its E face and a plain metal sheeted door to the N face. Between the N wall of the tall flat roofed extension and the return to the rear of no.62 is a low flat roofed ‘infill’ extension.

The W and S façades and are finished what appears to be a [?]reconstituted stone. Eaves course and bevelled plinth. Tudoresque gabled parapet to S with coping. Coping to front half dormer also. The rear elevation is in plain painted render. Cast iron gutters and square downspouts discharge in to decorative cast hopper heads. The downspout to front is recessed. The main gabled roof is slated.

Historical information

TOBERWINE STREET
Toberwine Street (‘Street of the ‘sweet well’) may represent the original area of settlement within the village of Glenarm, its narrowness betraying something of its antiquity. The original 13th century castle of Glenarm, around which the village developed, is believed to have stood at the south west corner of the street, on the site now occupied by the former court house. The castle itself was deliberately ‘broken’ by Sorley Boy MacDonnell in 1597 and, seemingly, not repaired- Sorley’s descendant, Sir Randal McDonnell, building a new residence on the other side of the river. Some historians state that the old castle was occupied by tenants (and therefore presumably repaired in some fashion), in the later 17th century, but Richard Dobbs makes no reference to it in his 1683 description of the village.

The first mention of ‘Toberwine’ within the Antrim Papers appears to be in a lease of November 1672, which refers to a house within the area, with ‘Toberwine Street’ mentioned in a lease of August 1709. On John O’Hara’s 1779 map of Glenarm (the earliest extant plan of the village) the street is shown fully developed on both sides, with the market / court house to the south west end. There is no verifiable indication of any remains of the old castle shown on the map, but the remark made in the 1835 OS Memoirs concerning ‘the foundations of a very extensive old castle which stood at the centre of the town until a few years ago’ indicates that ruins of some kind may have lingered into the early 19th century.

Evidence provided by the valuation of 1833 suggests that most of the buildings we now see on the west side of the street were present (in some form) at that date and that many were probably 18th century. The east side of the street witnessed a much greater degree of development after 1833 however, with nos.4-12 all c.1840, and nos.20-34 and 62 post c.1860- some of the latter replacing modest single storey dwellings. There is evidence to suggest that large three storey former Antrim Arms Hotel (and possibly its neighbour no.56) may have been standing in the early 1830s, but this is not certain.

No.67
This bank was built by the Belfast Banking Co. in 1935. It probably replaced an earlier banking premises which appears to have operated from the neighbouring three storey house since the founding of a branch in the Glenarm in 1918. After 1935 this house acted as the manager’s residence. In 1970 the Belfast Banking Co was bought over by the Midland Bank and merged with the Northern Bank. The branch remained in operation until c.1990. The building now serves as a jewellery workshop / shop.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI D.2977/3A/4/65/2, 30, 34A, 36, 37A-B, 43-45, 70A-B etc. Antrim Papers Leases relating to property in ‘Toberwine’ / Toberwine Street, 1672, 1709, 1736/7, 1753 etc.
2 PRONI D.2977/36/3/1A Antrim Papers Map, showing the Town of Glenarm, plus Glenarm Castle and demesne, by John O'Hara, 1779. [Includes a list of the tenants in Glenarm town.]
3 Ulster Museum A view of Glenarm Castle (painting dating from some time between 1768 and 1812) [This painting also shows the town itself.]
4 View of Glenarm c.1769-c.1812 (painting in possession of Lord Dunluce)
5 “The town and castle of Glenarm, Co. Antrim” [1830] by T.M. Baynes in ‘Ireland illustrated’ (London 1831)
6 ‘Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland…’ vol.13 [c.1830-35] ed. Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams (QUB 1992), p.127
7 PRONI OS/6/1/29/1 OS map, Co Antrim sh 29, 1832-33
8 PRONI VAL/1B/149 First valuation, Tickmacrevan parish, 1833 [The map to accompany this valuation is now lost making it extremely difficult, (and in most cases impossible), to tell which properties the valuation book is actually referring to. In some cases (most notably the west side of Toberwine Street) the writer has been able to successfully correlate the information contained within the second valuation notebook for 1859 with that of the first valuation, in order to decipher some of the details contained within the latter, but for most properties within Glenarm this has not been possible.]
9 Samuel Lewis, ‘A topographical dictionary of Ireland’ vol.1 (London 1837), p.658
10 William Makepeace Thackery, ‘Irish sketchbook’ (1843), p.238
11 Mrs and Mrs S.C. Hall, ‘Ireland: Its scenery, character etc., vol.III (London 1843), p.130
12 PRONI VAL/2D/1/11 Valuation town plan of Glenarm, 1859 [with later annotations- ?c.1900]
13 PRONI VAL/2B/1/41B Second valuation [notebook], village of Glenarm, 1859 [In the light of the problems concerning the first valuation this notebook and its accompanying map are both invaluable. For many areas the details of the second valuation only survive in the final printed form, with the names of householders and leaseholders and the rateable value for each property supplied only. For some areas, Glenarm among them, the working notebooks compiled by the valuers have survived, providing information such as dimensions of buildings, their use, the number of rooms they contain, notes on age and condition, and, (occasionally), comments regarding the overall appearance of properties. In many respect these notebooks closely resemble those of the first valuation, but frequently contain more detail.]
14 PRONI OS/8/103/1 OS town plan of Glenarm, 1903
15 PRONI VAL/12E/31/1 Valuation town plan of Glenarm, 1907-[1935]
16 Plans and elevations of the Belfast Banking Company’s new premises at Glenarm, 1935 [In possession of present owner of no.67 Toberwine Street.]
17 PRONI VAL/3G/20/1 Valuation town plan of Glenarm. 1936-57

Secondary sources
1 C.E.B. Brett, ‘Historic buildings…Glens of Antrim’ (Belfast 1971), p.16
2 Noel Simpson, ‘The Belfast Bank 1827-1970’ (Belfast 1975), p.225
3 Eileen Black, “A view of Glenarm Castle” in ‘The Glynns- Journal of The Glens of Antrim Historical Society’ vol.7 (1979), pp.29-30
4 Jimmie Irvine, “A map of Glenarm- 1779” in ‘The Glynns- Journal of The Glens of Antrim Historical Society’ vol.9 (1981), pp.52-61
5 Hon. Hector McDonnell, “The building of the parish church at Glenarm” in ‘The Glynns- Journal of The Glens of Antrim Historical Society’ vol.10 (1982), pp.31-36
6 Felix McKillop, ‘Glenarm- A local history’ (Glenarm 1987)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Small, compact one and a half storey stone-faced bank of 1935 with vague stylised ‘Neo-Jacobethan’ feel. Not of architectural interest.