Whilst to the casual observer at street level, the Bank may look like a single building, it is made up of two separate earlier buildings, no.’s 7 and 9, united by a modern stone facia. This becomes more obvious if you look to the upper floors and note the differences in roof line and windows.
In the mid-19th century, both 7 and 9, North Street had been owned by Thomas Nottage Millar. They were both rebuilt in the mid 1860’s, in a style described as Victorian business Gothic, originally of plain brick, with stone and red brick trim. These can be seen dominating the upper side of North Street, in this extract from a coloured engraving, published in 1866 by Arthur Boardman who operated from a shop on the other side of North Street. The water pump is standing outside no. 11.
Extract from engraving published by Arthur Boardman, 1866 The architect for no 9 was F J & H Francis, a prominent London based practise, specialising in high Victorian Gothic, for commercial projects across the UK. They introduced a hint Tuscan, with the decorative plaster mouldings between and above and below the window frames. This was later repeated on the opposite side of North Street, at no. 14, where plaster mouldings were added 1885.
A predecessor bank, the London and County Bank, had moved to 9, North Street in 1867, from premises in the south wing of the Corn Exchange where it had been since 1839.
London & County Bank ca. 1865
Thus, this branch is the longest surviving bank in Bishops Stortford, having been on this site for over 150 years, although it cannot claim to be the first bank in the town.
A photograph from 1966 shows the premises, now the Westminster Bank, with the customer entrance on the left, at no. 7. The London & County Bank had merged with the London & Westminster Bank in 1909 and later renamed the Westminster Bank. This in turn merged with the National Provincial Bank in 1968, to form National Westminster / NatWest. The latter had a branch at 1-3, Market Square (now Nostimo’s) but this later closed following rationalisation of the branch network. Confusingly, the official address for the NatWest branch is 7, North Street, but historically it can trace its origins back to no. 9.
No. 7 was to become the offices of Bishop’s Stortford Urban Council for 25 years, from 1895 to 1920, when it moved to Wharf House on the Causeway. Photographs from this era show proclamations being made from outside this building, as well as balconies for reviewing parades in North Street.
Crowds gathered to hear the Proclamation of George V in 1910
The extension of the Bank into no. 7 was a post-war development.
