IOM Bank, Athol St. & Commercial Architecture Alexander Marshall
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8 ISLEOFMANEXAMINER www.iomtoday.co.im Tuesday,December13,2016 BUILDINGS AT RISK Commercial buildings in the island aretoberevered as well When it opened on June 9, 1902, theopulence of thenew Isle of ManBanking CompanyLtd buildinggaveconfidence to thepublic Feature PeterKelly IsleofManVictorianSociety verthe years, the interest by the Manx publicin theirbuilt herit- Oagehas grown. It wasundoubtedly kindled by the‘Kelly’sEye’series, whichran on Manx Radio formorethan 20 years from 1987. Then therewas the ‘Streets of Douglas’articles that were published in the Isle of Man Examiner every week during 1996. Of morerecenttimes, Jonathan Kewley’s book ‘The Churches of Mann’gavea marvellous insightintothe history and architectureof ourisland churches, while PatTutt’s massive tome ‘An Introduction to theArchi- tectureofthe Isle of Man’ has been well praised for thewonderful photographs showing thedelights of the buildings around us. Visiting groupswithan interest in buildings arenow Thebankinghallbeforethealterationsof1993showingtheoriginalcounterpositionwithsecuritygrillesadded.Notetheblackandwhitemarbletileswhicharestillbeneaththecarpet.Thedou- well familiar withthe work bledoorsat thefarendleadintothe1937extension.Inset,Theinteriorofthebankfollowingthealterationsof1993whenthecurvedcounterwasrepositioned furtherbackintothebankinghall. of thegreat ecclesiastical DavidSwinton’shardwoodcarvingbasedontheEarlofDerby’s crestwasrepositionedfromhighuponthescreentoadisplayrecessontheleftofthispicture architects Ewan Christian, Joseph Henry Christian, scale of population and econ- outskirts of Ramsey. theworkofEwanChristian duetothe failure of its par- Banking Company Limited Henry Clutton, JL Pearson, omy. Our leading domestic Not so well-known, how- forthe Isle of Man Com- entbankinScotland, it was wasfounded and opened its Giles GilbertScottand WD architects arealso well- ever,isthe identityofsome mercial Banking Company purchasedbythe Manx gov- doors at 15 Athol Streeton Caröe,all of whom designed known: BaillieScott, Armit- of thearchitects of ourcom- and wasbuiltduring 1846.It ernment andhas been part November1inaproperty churches here. ageRigby,and Brameld and mercial buildings, yetsome stood on Prospect Hill, and in of Government Officesever nowoccupiedbyafirm of Their churches in theis- SmithofManchester,who of them arewell-known and fact stilldoes, althoughmuch since.The architect of this advocates. Thebankbuild- land are, however, so differ- designed all theArtsand reveredbeyond these shores. altered at roof and ground imposingclassical pile was ingwas theleast attractive of enttotheir work in England Crafts houses at ‘The Colo- The first purpose-de- floor level. It is nowoccupied thelocal self-taughtarchi- its competitors, having been as heretheywereworking to ny’, Port Lewaigue, on the signed bank in theisland was by ‘FinancialOptions’. tect, John Robinson. built as ashopwithahouse The second purpose-de- Thenextbanktobebuilt above. signed bank wasThe Bank (1860-1) wasatthe bottom The business was, howev- of Mona, higher up thehill of ProspectHill; it wasthe er,successful and branch of- at thejunctionwithFinch Douglasand Isle of Man fices were opened in Ramsey, Road.In1977itwas nick- Bank, latertobecomeDumb- Castletown, Peel, Port Erin, named ‘TheWeddingCake’,a ell’s, then Parrs Bank and fi- Port St Mary and Laxey. name that has stayed withit. nally it endedupasNatWest The directors decided to Following theforced throughaseries of names in- build aflagship head office closureofthe bank in 1878, corporatingthe word West- and thechance camewhen a minster. large block of rundownprop- This building,withits erty at thejunction of Athol Thebankinitscentenaryyear1965. highly-decorated façade, Streetcame up forauction. In1937itwasextendedtotheleft appears to have been de- The directors’instruction whichcanbediscernedbythetwo signedbyArthurHolme, to theirmanager wasquite windowssettogetherbetweenthe awell-respected architect simple: ‘Attend theauction pilasters.Itwasdesignedbylocal from Liverpooland bears a and biduntil thedirectors architectJos.E.Teareandbuilt strong resemblance to his saytostop.’ bytheleadingbuildersofthetime Marlborough House in Bold Thesitewas purchased in CreerBrothersofDouglasusing Street. At thesametime,he October 1898 for£7,250 and granitefromthesamequarryas wasworking on extensions thought wasgiventothe de- theoriginalbuilding.Notetheef- at KingWilliam’s College and sign of thenew building. fectsofsixtyyearsoffumes,smoke TheFalcon’s Nest Hotelat The manager,the chair- andtheatmosphereontheonce Port Erin. man and James Cowle, alo- ‘white’ granite In 1865, theIsleofMan cal builder-cum-architect, Tuesday,December13,2016 www.iomtoday.co.im ISLEOFMANEXAMINER 9 Biography:Alexander Marshall Mackenzie 1848-1933 Oldbuildingsreadytobedemolishedtomakeway forthenewbankafterthesitewaspurchased LocationofthefirstIsleofManBankingCompany inOctober1898for£7,250 Limitedbuildingat15AtholStreetDouglas As it wasnot advertised, thepublicweredenied the opportunitytomakecom- ment, yetthe bank had included it as part of theap- plication. Alookatthe information held online shows thebank offered thecounter to The Friendsofthe Gaiety to use as abar and they accepted. However, TheGaiety is aRegisteredBuilding, thereforeRegistered Build- ingConsentisnecessary and ‘TheFriends’ arenot MarshallMackenziewasborn mon–thearchitectureof theownersofThe Gaiety, at Elgin,Scotland. banking’, JohnBookerincludes nor in aposition to accept Hisfather,Thomas,wasan theIsleofManBankinanap- thecounter on behalf of the architect,butdiedwhenhis pendixof‘SignificantBanks’. owners. Also,onfile is cor- sonwassix.Aftereducation Hesays:‘Itshouldhave been respondence by theplan- at ElginAcademy, Aberdeen ashockto mainlandbankers ning officeradvising that the andEdinburgh,Marshallwas thatthedirectorsoftheIsle former conservationofficer articledto hisfather’sformer ofManBankingCompany, wascontent withthe pro- partnerJamesMatthews in searchingBritainin1899 NorthernAssuranceCompanyHQinAberdeendressedforthe1902Coronation.NotethesimilaritytotheIsleof posals. Planningapproval 1863. foranexemplaronwhichto ManBankthatopenedthatyear forthe ramp and signage Sevenyearslater, at theageof basetheirnewpremisesat wasgivenbyanofficer un- 22,heset uphisownpractice, Douglas,decidedto followthe der ‘delegatedauthority’ and followingastudytourofItaly Frenchneo-classicallinesofan setoffonatrip to Englandto When it opened on June Now,the proposals are issuedonNovember 24, but andFrance. assurancecompany’sofficein view recentlyconstructed 9, 1902, its opulencegave lookedonbymanyasscut- it didnot includethe inte- HerejoinedJamesMatthews Aberdeen,commissioningthe banks. confidence to theManxpub- tling theflagshipofthe fleet, rior alterations. in1877,butasapartner,and samearchitect.’ Upon theirreturn, it was licfollowing thedisastrous butwhatdothe guardiansof It maybearguedthat rantheElginandAberdeen At AtholStreet,Mackenzie agreed that thenew building crash of Dumbell’sBanktwo ourbuiltheritage, theplan- planning approval is not offices.By1893 hewasthe achievedopulenceby using shouldbebuiltingraniteand years earlier. ners, think? Aplanning ap- necessaryfor internal al- soleprincipalofthefirmwhich Norwegian,LightRouge,Royal ashortlistofarchitects who Itsmarble-walled bank- plication wasmadeonJune terations, yetthe planning hadbeenresponsibleforthe andPavonazzomarbleon hadbeen involved in bank inghall withdecorative glass 7this year by theRoyal Bank office included on their designoftheheadofficeof thewallsandafloorofDove buildings wasproduced. dome and impressive curved of Scotland Group plc to planning list 16/00849/B theNorthernAssuranceCo andwhiteSicilianmarblelaid Approaches were made mahogany counterwas, and ‘replaceexternal signage, in- ‘Internal alterations and (whichhadanincrediblelike- checkerboard-styleinthe to five architects including has continuedtobe, thefin- stall an external ramp at the refurbishmentincluding nessto theIOMBank,Athol publicareaofthebanking Alfred Waterhouse,architect est interior of anybuilding Prospect Hill door,toremove increased opening fornew Street);severalbranchesof hall,aswellasrichpolished of thefamous Manchester on theIsleofMan. theteller counters and open entrance and replacements theNorthofScotlandBank; mahoganyandoakforthe Town Hall and manyofthe Recently, customers of up thebanking hall’. of glazedshop front, Isle theCentralPublicLibrary, woodwork. Untiltwoweeks largeofficebuildings of the thebankwerehanded a To thesurpriseofmost of Man Bank, 2-4Regent Aberdeen;theGrandHotel, ago, thismagnificentinterior Refuge Assurance Company leaflet showingproposals to people,the bank is notregis- Street, Douglas’ andgaveAp- Aberdeen;workat Balmoral wasintact.Thebankwascor- in many of thecities of Eng- stripout thecounters, break teredand so wasnot afford- proval on September8.No Castleandat MarLodgeforthe rectlydescribedby PatTuttin land.Only twoarchitects openingsthroughwallsand ed anyspecial protection. officialextractionofpartof DukeofFife;anumberofbuild- herbookas‘oneoftheisland’s submittedplans in competi- install self-servicemachines Somewherewithinthe theapplication there. Surely ingsat AberdeenUniversityas bestandmostadmiredworks tion and thewinningarchi- to create aNatWest Bankin planning office thedeci- it should be acase of ‘sauce wellasmanywarmemorials ofarchitecture’. tect wasMarshall Mackenzie oneend and an Isle of Man sion wasmadetoadvertise forthe goose is…’. acrossScotland. Mackenziewent onto design of Aberdeen. Bank in theother. and deal withthe