Diamond Dolls

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A two-bay three-storey-over-basement former bank with dormer attic, now commercial premises, built c.1830 and remodelled c.1920 to designs by Nicholas Fitzsimons. Located to the west side of Bridge Street in Banbridge town centre. Rectangular on plan with single-storey extension to south and various two-storey extensions to rear.

Pitched natural slate roof with blue/black angled ridge tiles and rendered chimneystack. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods on bracketted timber eaves. Walling is squared uncoursed basalt with raised stone quoins and dressings to upper floors; ashlar Portland stone to ground floor and Flemish-bonded red-brick on a basalt plinth to basement. Windows are 3/6 timber-framed sash to second floor and 8/8 to basement with granite sills; timber transomed and mullioned casements (top panes with leaded carnes), to ashlar canted bay at first floor; plate-glass windows with multi-paned upper sections to ground floor; multi-paned gabled dormer to attic.

The principal elevation faces east and is three windows wide at second floor with canted bay window to centre at first floor. Ground floor is extended at left to include the single-storey extension (described below). Three openings are divided by stone Doric columns on plinths and surmounted by a plain entablature having applied steel lettering to frieze reading “Diamond Dolls”. To left are two plate-glass windows (multi-paned to upper sections); to far right is a double-leaf four-panelled timber door surmounted by multi-paned transom light and accessed by set of stone steps enclosed by cast-iron gates. Basement is enclosed by railings, having two windows at left; basement entrance porch beneath perron has four-panelled timber door with multi-paned transom light and side-light.

The south elevation has a round-headed window to attic and 3/6 window to first floor; abutted at ground floor by the single-storey extension fitted with modern glass shop-front.

The west (rear) elevation a variety of irregularly-arranged fenestration and dormer window at left. Abutted by three small extensions of various heights with a variety of fenestration.

The north elevation is abutted by adjoining building.

Setting

Prominently sited at the northern end of the major thoroughfare in the centre of the town. Street-facing to east with concrete steps down to basement enclosed by modern plinth wall and metal railings. Yard to rear enclosed by high masonry wall.

Roof: Natural slate
Walling: Roughly coursed basalt with stone dressings and Flemish bonded red-brick
Windows: Variety of timber-framed sash and timber casements
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

The current building was opened as a branch of the Provincial Bank in 1832 but is almost certainly of an earlier date. (Gilbart) The bank was remodelled in 1921 to designs by Nicholas Fitzsimons, who is largely responsible for the building’s present-day appearance. (Valuation records; Who’s Who in Architecture) The building is a link to the linen heritage of Banbridge in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, when the town was becoming a centre of industry and commerce and the construction of smart town houses reflected its new prosperity.

The building is shown on the first edition OS map of 1833 as rectangular on plan with a garden to the rear and situated at the lower end of Banbridge’s main thoroughfare. The Provincial Bank was established in Banbridge in 1832 during a period of boom for the linen trade when the town was the marketplace for one of the most important inland manufacturing areas in Ireland. (McCulloch; OS Memoirs; Rankin) An annual report by the directors of the Provincial Bank of Ireland in May 1833 indicated that the bank had received ‘a number of applications’ for the establishment of additional branches and that they had selected Banbridge ‘as a station affording the promise of respectable and useful business’. Business commenced on 24th June 1832. (Gilbart) It seems probable that the bank adapted existing premises, as the annual report makes no mention of a new building and speaks only of putting in progress ‘the necessary measures for establishing a regular branch bank.’ (Gilbart)

The quality mark given to the building in the Townland Valuation (1828-40) is ‘a-‘ indicating a structure more than 20 years old. The occupiers are the Provincial Banking Company and the ‘bank, offices and yard’ are valued at £26. Dimensions are given for the house and cellar which at this time was being used as a kitchen. A white marble memorial tablet in the porch of Scarva Street Presbyterian Church commemorates James Johnston Esq, manager of the bank in the mid-19th century who died in 1863 on his way home from Australia where he had gone for the sake of his health. (Trainor)

The second edition OS map of 1860 shows a much-expanded town, now connected to the railway network , lines having opened in 1859 (Banbridge Junction Railway) and 1863 (Banbridge and Lisburn Railway). The bank had continued to flourish and had been extended to the rear. Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64) lists the Provincial Banking Company as a ‘house, offices, yard and small garden’ with buildings valued at £44.10s later raised to £50. The manager is Robert Thompson and the building is leased from Edward Greer. Dimensions are given for the house and returns and the valuer comments that it is a ‘very fine strong house’ although it is not in a good ‘business situation’. Annual Revisions of 1864 record the manager as R J Friel. A collection of photographs of ‘Old Banbridge’ by Young and Quail contains an image of part of the bank in the early 1900s before it was remodelled. The building is a three-bay, three-storey house of Georgian proportions with eight sliding sash windows and a semi-circular headed gateway to the side. The original stonework and quoins appear to have been retained in the remodel but the original windows had brick surrounds. As was usual for banking houses at this period, the building contained accommodation for the manager who lived on the premises. The 1901 and 1911 censuses list the bank manager as Arthur Haire, who lived with his wife and adult daughters. Also resident was widower David Dougan who worked as a bank porter. (1901, 1911 census)

In 1921 the bank was given a new front and internal modifications were made as well as additions to the rear. An oriel window was added and the ground floor and side entrance were given a classical treatment. The dormer window was probably also added at this time. The valuer’s notebook for this period gives a plan and dimensions including measurements for the bank itself, a manager’s room, stationery passage and safe. As a result of the improvements the valuation was doubled to £100. Who’s Who in Architecture of 1923 records the architect of the re-modelling as Nicholas Fitzsimons, who was at the time in partnership with Frederick Henry Tulloch, formerly of Graeme Watt and Tulloch. Fitzsimons worked on a number of bank premises, for Provincial and for Belfast Bank and Bank of Ireland. (www.dia.ie)

The First General Revaluation of 1933/4 revalued the bank, house and offices at £140. The accommodation was described as a fairly good public office, two private offices, one strong room and lavatory accommodation with a common vestibule for the bank and house. The house contained on the ground floor a porter’s room and hall. In the basement were a kitchen, scullery, two pantries and store cellar and on the first floor two receptions and a parlour at the front, and at the back a ‘good’ bath with separate WC and linen cupboard. On the second floor were three bedrooms and one dressing room. Two front attic dormer windows completed the accommodation on the third floor. To the rear was an enclosed yard with stable buildings used as a garage and a garden plot. The valuer comments that the ‘imposing elevation’ at the front has been rebuilt and that the ‘back portion is an old building not originally built as a bank’. However, in contrast to the valuer’s comments in 1860, the bank is now said to be on a ‘fairly good site in the main street’. A map and dimensions are given showing the bank, a gateway with rooms over, an external stairway at the rear, stables, a garage and a fowl house. In 1940 the valuation was lowered to £130 because despite the building’s imposing front the rear was said to be ‘old’.

The Provincial Bank was established in 1825 with a capital of £2,000,000 and at the time of its opening in Banbridge, the bank’s head office was in London and it had 20 branches throughout Ireland. According to a commercial dictionary of 1840, the “business of the bank is conducted, under the control of the head office, by the managers, with the advice and assistance of 2 or more gentlemen of respectability in the district, each holding ten shares in the bank”. The bank had not always been successful and in 1828 there was a severe run which necessitated support from England to the tune of £1,000,000 in gold. However, by 1840 the bank was used by the government for excise, post-office and stamp revenues in areas where the Bank of Ireland had no branches. (McCulloch) In 1966 the Provincial Bank merged with the Munster & Leinster Bank and the Royal Bank of Ireland to form Allied Irish Bank Ltd, now operating in Northern Ireland as ‘First Trust Bank’. (www.ireland.deposits.org) The first survey photograph, taken in 1988, shows that the building was an Allied Irish Bank in the late 1980s.

The premises is now a beauty salon and clothes boutique and in recent years the side of the building, formerly open behind the gateway, has been roofed over.

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/27/1 First Edition OS Map 1833
2. PRONI OS/6/3/27/2 Second Edition OS map 1860
3. PRONI OS/6/3/27/3 Third Edition OS Map 1903
4. PRONI OS/6/3/27/4 Fourth Edition OS Map 1903-18
5. PRONI VAL/1/B/348A Townland Valuation (1828-40)
6. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/64B Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/6A-H Annual Revisions (1864-1929)
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/7A-C Annual Revisions (1899-1930)
9. PRONI VAL/12/A/3/14 – Valuer’s Notebook 1921
10. PRONI VAL/12/F/4/1/1 Annual Revisions 1930-35
11. PRONI VAL/3/C/4/4 First General Revaluation 1933-57
12. PRONI VAL/3/D/4/2/A/2 First General Revaluation 1933-57

Secondary Sources

1. Day, A. And P. McWilliams, eds. “OS Memoirs of Ireland, Parishes of County Down III, 1833-8, Vol. 12.” Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 1992.
2. Gilbart, J W “The history of banking in Ireland” London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green and Longman, 1836
3. Martin, R M “Ireland before and after the union with Great Britain” London: Orr and Co, 1843
4. McCulloch, J R “A Dictionary, practical, theoretical and historical of commerce and commercial navigation” Philadelphia: Thomas Wardle, 1840
5. Trainor, B “Researching Irish Australians” Ulster Historical Foundation, 1998
6. Who’s Who in Architecture, 1923
7. www.dia.ie
8. www.ireland.deposits.org
9. Young, A F and Quail, D “Old Banbridge” Stenlake Publishing, 2002

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest
V. Authorship

Evaluation

A two-bay three-storey-over-basement former bank with attic, now commercial premises, built c.1830 and remodelled in 1921 to designs by Nicholas Fitzsimons. The current appearance of the building is largely due to the 1921 remodelling, however the fabric of the building dates from the early nineteenth-century when Banbridge was at the height of a boom in industry and commerce. Refurbished in recent years with some alterations to the façade involving the rearrangement of the steps. Much of the original character, including historic developments, has been preserved and is representative of the early development of Banbridge and the banking industry in the nineteenth-century.