Heywood’s Bank, 25 St. Ann's Square

The name of Gregan should always be held in respect by the profession in this town, not only on account of the many virtues he possessed as a man, but also because he left us proof of his genius in the building in St Ann’s Square known as Heywood’s Bank. This is without doubt the most refined and perfect example we possess of the application of the Italian style of architecture to street adornment; it is original in many of its features, good in proportion and pure in details. [The Critic 2 December 1871 Page 39-40]

Designed by J E Gregan in 1848, for Benjamin Heywood's Bank, and thought to be one of the finest examples of palazzo style architecture in Manchester City Centre, this building now belongs to the Royal Bank of Scotland and occupies the dominant corner position with St Ann's Street facing St Ann's Church. The ground floor is rusticated and the windows are all arched, first floor windows having triangular pediments and the top floor with square windows in true Italianate style. A composition of a large stone block, the bank proper, and a smaller brick block, now bank offices, with an arched entrance serving as a link between them. According to Reilly, it was "a model of civic reserve and good manners combined with strength and character".

SIR B HEYWOOD AND COMPANY'S BANK -The business of the bank of Sir B Heywood and Co. was removed, on Wednesday last, to the new structure in St. Ann’s-street, erected upon the site of the old bank and other premises. The old buildings, it will be recollected, consisted of a large house standing at the corner of St. Ann’s-square and St. Ann’s-street, occupied a gentleman connected with the establishment, and low building used for the transaction of the bank business, extending along St. Ann’s-street to Half-moon-street. This arrangement has been altered; the bank now occupies the site of the house and part of the ground on which the bank stood, and the residence the remainder of the area between it and the street just named. The bank, the facade of which is distinct from the dwelling, is an elegant structure, having frontage to St. Ann’s-street of 55 feet, and of 36 feet to St. Ann’s-square ; it is entirely built of polished ashlar stone from the quarries around Halifax, and the style of architecture adopted is that prevalent in Italy during the revival of the fine arts—the pure style of the Romans, as practised in that country in the 15th and 16th centuries, when the genius of Raffaele and Michael Angelo was perfecting the rich monuments of their genius which have descended to us. The building comprises a basement and three principal stories, the full height being about 60 feet. The bank room occupies the whole of the ground floor, and is a noble apartment, 52 feet long by 30 feet wide, and 21 feet 6 inches high. It is entered from St. Ann’s-street by a well-proportioned door of large dimensions, built at the extreme end of the building, between it and the residence. The room is lighted by three Venetian windows in St. Ann's street, and three single-arched lights in St. Ann’s-square, all tided with magnificent plates of glass, protected outwardly at night by wrought iron shutters, raised by simple machinery erected and worked in the basement. The angle at the turning from the square into the street is squared for the benefit of the public. No window is inserted, but the blank has been taken advantage of to insert a shield bearing the arms of the Heywood family. In consequence of this "cut-off," the architect has so contrived the windows, that three centre externally, and two centre internally:—this to our architectural readers. The room is fire-proof, and is divided into three longitudinal compartments by two ranges of cast-iron pillars supporting the fire-proof ceiling (each pillar being cast of full size in metal), and the internal finishing for windows being entirely of stone, the whole interior has an architectural and classical appearance. The columns and the corresponding pilasters on the walls are painted in imitation of red granite: the ceilings and entablatures, two shades of a rich French white; and the walls, a cool greenish grey. The smaller columns and pilasters, forming the interior finishings of the windows, are of Halifax stone, in their natural colour. The counters, desks, and all joinery in the bank, are of Dantzic oak, finished in French polish and varnish ; the whole forming a pleasing combination of colour, rich and cheerful in its effect, yet sufficiently grave as a place of business. The upper stories of the building are occupied as residence by one of the head officers of the establishment. They are exceedingly handsome, the windows of the principal residence story having columnar dressings of the Corinthian order, with balustered balconies, and the whole building is terminated by a richly-decorated cornicione. The safes for the deposit of deeds, books, cash, &c, are the cellars, and are of fire-proof construction and prodigious strength. Innumerable contrivances have been brought into use for this purpose, and they now seem alike to defy the attacks of fire or the violence of marauders. They are fortified by strong fire brick walls, built in Roman cement, with a strong iron cage in the middle of the wall all round them. The adjacent residence is in the same style of architecture; but being built of stock bricks, faced with stone, it has a less striking appearance than it would present if built elsewhere. The whole length of frontage from St. Ann’s-square to Half Moon-street is about 120 feet; the depth of the house, like that of the bank, is 36 feet. The ventilation of both buildings has been made a complete study. The windows of the bank-room are hermetically sealed, not one being made to open, and the fresh air for the supply of the occupants drawn from the atmosphere at height of 25 feet from the level of the pavement, by means of flues constructed within the thickness of the wall, and it enters the room at the level of the skirting board through innumerable little apertures, diffusing it as much as possible over the extent of the floor. The foul air is carried off means of continuous perforations in an enrichment of the cornice along one side and one end of the room. These openings lead info a continuous channel, formed behind the cornice for the purpose, which terminates in a large flue about 3 feet by 2 feet inside, which rises about 10 feet above the roof of the building. Dr. Chowne recently patented a plan of ventilation, proposing to insert an inverted syphon into buildings for the purpose; the shorter leg for the inlet of air, and the longer for the outlet. At the bank this appears to have been anticipated, the entrance air flue representing the short leg, and the foul-air flue above the roof the long leg; the syphon is made in the walls of the bank, and each room through which the fresh air passes is a portion of it. The safes are thoroughly ventilated, so that now books and parchments can be preserved without danger from damp or the decay resulting from it. This has been accomplished without in the least weakening any of the arrangements for safety, a most difficult point. Beside the ventilation, the means for heating tie bank artificially are once simple and effective. The fresh air, as it comes along the flue from the exterior atmosphere, is made to pass for some distance over hot-water pipes (which themselves out. heat), and thus acquires an increase of temperature before it enters the place without losing its freshness. The architect of this structure is Mr. J. E. Gregan, of Cooper-street, upon whose professional skill and taste it will reflect credit for many years to come; the ventilation was planned and superintended by Mr. Stone; the general contractor was Mr. Birch, of Manchester, and all the work has been executed in a superior manner the masonry especially, we are assured, is of the highest class, and cannot be excelled by any London builder The (shutters for the windows were designed and wrought by Messrs. Wren and Bennett, engineers, of Newton-street. The foundation stone was laid in March, 1848, so that the time occupied the erection has been nearly two years and we may roughly calculate the cost at £10,000.

Only the basement and ground floor of the stone section housed banking activities. The two upper floors provided palatial accommodation for the Manager and his servants, whilst the brick section to the south, generally referred to as the Manager’s House, in fact contained service quarters above apair of ground-floor reception rooms for the use of Sir Benjamin and Lady Heywood [Frank Salmon VS Newsletter}