Survey Data
Reg No
31209013
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic
Previous Name
National Bank
Original Use
Bank/financial institution
In Use As
Bank/financial institution
Date
1870 - 1875
Coordinates
114502, 290318
Date Recorded
19/11/2008
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached four-bay two-storey double-pile over part basement bank, built 1873; extant 1895, on a square plan centred on two-bay two-storey "bas-relief" breakfront. Hipped double-pile (M-profile) slate roof with clay ridge tiles, rendered chimney stacks having shallow stringcourses below capping, and cast-iron rainwater goods on timber box cornice having spandrels on nail head-detailed frieze on entablature. Rendered channelled wall (ground floor) on rendered chamfered plinth with "Cyma Recta"- or "Cyma Reversa"-detailed cornice on blind frieze on entablature; red brick Flemish bond surface finish (first floor) with timber box cornice having spandrels on nail head-detailed frieze on entablature; rendered surface finish (remainder). Paired camber-headed window openings (ground floor) with "Cyma Recta"- or "Cyma Reversa"-detailed sill course, and concealed dressings having bull nose-detailed reveals framing one-over-one timber sash windows. Camber-headed flanking door openings approached by two drag edged tooled cut-limestone steps, rendered doorcases with monolithic pilasters supporting pediments on "Cavetto"-detailed fluted consoles, and concealed dressings having bull nose-detailed reveals centred on keystones framing replacement timber panelled doors having overlights. Camber-headed window openings (first floor) with "Cyma Recta"- or "Cyma Reversa"-detailed sill course, and red brick voussoirs having bull nose-detailed reveals framing one-over-one timber sash windows. Street fronted with concrete brick cobbled footpath to front.
Appraisal
A bank erected to a design by Henry Brett and Sons of Dame Street, Dublin (Irish Builder 1873), representing an integral component of the later nineteenth-century built heritage of Castlebar with the architectural value of the composition confirmed by such attributes as the compact near-square plan form centred on a shallow breakfront; the channelled surface finish with vibrant red brick overhead producing a mild polychromatic palette; the slight diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression; and the decorative timber work embellishing the roofline. Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior, thereby upholding the character or integrity of a bank making a pleasing visual statement in Ellison Street.