1850 J 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



285 



COURT 



Scale of Elevation. 



GaoDNO Plan. 



Scale of Flan. 



The VVTiitby Bank is a very good example of a small branch 

 bank in a district yielding stone. Such a building requires accom- 

 modation for the residence of the officers, and consequent safe 

 custody of the property, as much as room for the business. Indeed, 

 the banking office need not be very large, either for clerks or 

 customers, in a small town. A branch bank must bring its staff 

 within close compass : the manager is likewise clerk and custodian, 

 and it is found economical to provide him with a residence. It is 

 otherwise where the banking business is very large, for there the 

 domestic part of the building is small, and there is more oppor- 

 tunity for architectural display, and a large hall becomes the 

 distinctive feature. 



The arrangement of the Whitby Bank is peculiar, and will be 

 interesting to our readers, who will see what the architects have 

 been able to do with an ungainly site. They have, it will be seen, 

 given to their front a curved sweep, which has the effect of com- 



municating to it a peculiar and marked character. In the interior 

 the banking office is irregular on the ground plan, but the ceiling 

 is elliptical ; and the retiring room behind it, likewise peculiar in 

 shape, is made symmetrical in the floor and the ceiling. 



The building is of stone procured from the neighbourhood, and 

 the dressings of the doors and windows are rusticated. The win- 

 dows are for safety provided with Bunnett and Corpe's iron 

 revolving shutters, and the safe is under the counter, and descends 

 into a vault in the fire-proof basement. The safe is moved up and 

 down by an hydraulic pump, and it contains all the cash drawers 

 and the bank books. When down in the vault an iron door closes 

 all. The total cost of the building and fittings was 1600/. 



The architects were Messrs. J. B. and William Atkinson, of 

 York. 



