|
Chester is an original branch of the Bank of Liverpool, and
opens in these fabulously appointed premises at Eastgate Street in 1896. Surviving all subsequent mergers and
changes up to Barclays in 1969, the Branch makes it beyond its one hundredth
anniversary, the business being closed and transferred to a nearby Barclays
Branch in 2001. The original colour image of Chester Branch that
was displayed on this page came to us in 2010 from a Valentine’s
Postcard. It drew a great deal of
interest, and since that time several more colour images have come to our
attention.
|
In Service: May 1896 until l5 October 2001
Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections - Tim Cornwell
|
|
Most have
also featured neighbouring buildings and shops, but have not really been
clear enough to do justice to the branch itself. We are therefore delighted to have been
allowed to show a new image from 1968 (shown in close-up above, and in full
here on the right), which was noticed by a friend of the Archive, Michael
Jackson.
Image © Barclays Ref
0030-0627
|
It comes
from a collection of images held by Tim Cornwell many of which can be seen
on his Flickr® page – ‘totally random scanned 35mm slides’ – and by whose
kind permission it is displayed here.
|
|
|
You can
see further examples of Martins Bank’s branches as they were photographed
for postcards, on our
pages for BRIGHOUSE, DEWSBURY, IRBY and MANCHESTER DEANSGATE branches). This part of Chester has always been popular
with photographers, and Mr J E Marsh – Martins Bank’s Official Photographer
took the black and white image shown below, in 1958. It featured in a short
article published in Martins Bank Magazine. The angle he chose from which
to take his picture is, coincidentally, the most popular with the various
postcard companies who have featured this view of Chester branch: -
 In
recent issues of the Magazine the emphasis has been very much on the
architectural beauty of the new branches we are opening up and down the
country. Although some of our older
branches are housed in buildings of no great architectural merit, this is
by no means universally the case and it is as well to remind ourselves now
and again of some of our older branches of which we can be every bit as
proud, in an architectural sense, as of the new ones. Chester is one of them and this
photograph, taken by Mr. J. E. Marsh, our Magazine photographer,
illustrates the point we are trying to make admirably. At the end of the
street can be seen the
tower of Chester cathedral.
|
|
 Martins is not the only bank close to Chester’s
historic and picturesque Eastgate to receive the honour of being featured
on a picture postcard. This lovely
view from the late 1960s includes the National Provincial Bank, which, like
Martins will undergo a marriage ceremony – in this case it is the “menage a
trois” involving the National Provincial, the Westminster
and the District Bank -
which will form the National Westminster Bank in 1970.
Goodbye,
Chester…
We are grateful to former Barclays Staff Member Craig
Turner, who wrote to let us know about the final days of Eastgate Street –
despite being closed down, it appears that the branch was busy right to the
end…
|
|
|
 The branch closed on 5th October 2001. By
that time it had become a personal sector sub-branch to Barclays Chester St
Werburgh Street Branch and had lost its 20-20-44 sorting code which was
given to Marks & Spencer financial services for their subsequent
use. Being located on the busiest
shopping street in Chester, Eastgate was a busy branch right up to closure,
with three external ATMs and one inside. There were five or six tills
including a busy Foreign till, and two or three personal bankers. The upper
floors were largely disused towards the end, apart from a learning centre
and a staff room on the top floor. In 2002 the building was bought by a
shoe retailer for a (reputedly) large sum. Some exterior alterations were
made, including lowering the window sills
so shoppers could actually see in. The front wall was also rebuilt
after removal of the three ATMs although a few clues still remain.
|
 The building at 35
Eastgate Street Chester will always carry reminders of Martins Bank –
from the original Bank of Liverpool carving, to the Martins Bank coat of
Arms and the ornate statues standing guard high above the windows. When – in September 2011 - Robert Montgomery was busy taking
contemporary photographs of UK bank branches, he certainly went into
overtime capturing many beautiful glimpses of Chester Branch. We have added a small selection below,
along with our usual “then and now” comparison…
|
|
Image © Barclays Ref
0030-0627
|
Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections
– Robert Montgomery
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Images © Martins Bank Archive Collections
– Robert Montgomery
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
