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Although the exact date is still to be found, it is probably around 1933, that Martins Bank takes the decision to move from the original Castletown branch of the Manx Bank on The Parade, to this beautiful building in the Market Square.

Aptly for a place called Castletown, the Branch seems to resemble a small fortress, and what better advertisement could there be for somewhere safe to keep your money! The Barclays Wealth Brand catered for the well-heeled from this building until February 2024 as you can see in our “then and now” feature later on this page…

In Service: 1933 until 09 February 2024

Branch Images © Barclays Ref 0030-0575

For our Castletown feature, we go back to July 1950 and a visit to the Branch by the team from Martins Bank Magazine. It turns out that the writer of the article – Magazine Editor Alec R Ellis,has been particularly looking forward to this visit, as it allows him to catch up with old friends…

1922 Castletown Branch as L & Y Bank CU PA Monday, July 31st, we set out for Castletown, calling in at Port Erin branch to cash a cheque. By a fortunate coincidence Mr. G. K. Dyson, Manager of Sowerby Bridge branch, and his wife were there on the same errand and we were pleased to meet them both and have a chat. We arrived at Castletown shortly before midday to keep the appointment to which we had been looking forward all week, the meeting with Len Kermode, a very close friend and colleague of our old Heywoods days, close on twenty years ago.

We Had not seen him since his and our first-born were little more than babes in arms and the meeting was indeed a reunion. The babe of the early 1930's is now a valuable member of our Castletown staff which she joined after a spell at Port Erin. She has been at the Bank since 1948. Mr. L. Kermode is the brother of Mr. J. F. W. Kermode, our Douglas manager, and has recently been appointed Manager of our Ramsey branch. Owing to bereavement his departure for Ramsey has been delayed and Mr. Quilleash, the new Clerk-in-Charge at Castletown was still at Ramsey at the time of our visit, as we have already stated. Mr. Kermode entered the Bank in 1920 and has previously served at Head Office, Liscard, Seacombe, Exchange, Blundellsands, Hoylake and Heywoods before his appointment as Clerk-in-Charge at Castletown in 1934. His second man is J. J. Miller who entered the service in 1928 at Liverpool City Office and has also been at Central, Park, Egremont, Charing Cross, Heswall, H.O. Relief and Douglas before going to Castletown in 1949.

We made up a family party for lunch at Derby Haven, taking Jean Kermode and collecting her sister Monica on the way, and afterwards, while Jean and her father returned to catch up with the work, Monica conducted us over the castle. In the evening we went over to Port St. Mary to meet Mr. Miller's wife and their eldest daughter and spend an hour together. Mr. Miller's wife had presented him with their third daughter a fortnight previously. On the following day we said our farewells to our friends in this lovely island of blue skies and sapphire seas, old-world fishing villages and peaceful havens, wooded glens and winding lanes with their fuchsia hedges and taking the evening plane from Ronaldsway we watched it fade away into the sunset of a perfect summer's day.

The good fortune brought by Martins Bank’s inheritance of branches on the Isle of Man, eventually turned Castletown into a Branch of Barclays Wealth, offering specialist banking services fropm here until February 2024.