The Lancashire And Yorkshire Bank Limited - Sowerby Bridge, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 42.520 W 001° 54.662
30U E 571877 N 5951659
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank was first set up in the Lancashire city of Manchester in 1871, before expanding into a number of Lancashire and Yorkshire towns. Its frieze contains the company's coat of arms.
Waymark Code: WMTPD3
Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 12/23/2016
Views: 0
The Bank's History
After the bank was formed it went through a number of takeovers and mergers before being taken over by Barclays Bank.
Barclays Bank's website has the following short history of the bank.
"This bank evolved out of the Alliance Bank of London and Liverpool, an enterprise established in 1862 which was keen to expand into the provinces. A branch was opened in Manchester on 1 January 1864 at 73 King Street. In 1871, the board of the Alliance Bank decided to close the Manchester branch, but its manager, John Mills, drew up a scheme to form a new bank: the Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank Ltd. The new bank had capital of £1m, and most of the directors were prominent Manchester businessmen. In the first six months, nearly £4,000 profit was made. Over the next few years, there was a gradual extension of business throughout Lancashire and Yorkshire, with profits exceeding £53,000 in 1882. Some of the bank's deposits were used to finance the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal opened in 1894. The Bank went on to absorb various other northern banks including Bury Banking Co (1888), Adelphi Bank (1899), West Riding Union Bank (1902), and in 1904 the Mercantile Bank of Lancashire which had a presence on the Isle of Man. In 1928, the Lancashire and Yorkshire was acquired by the Bank of Liverpool and Martins Ltd."
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Another page tells us that "In 1968, Martins announced its merger with Barclays, becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Barclays Bank Ltd on 1 November, and was fully absorbed on 15 December 1969."
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The bank expanded slowly in the first decade and only opened branches in Lancashire. The Sowerby Bridge branch was the first one to be opened in Yorkshire in 1873.
There is a fine stone relief carving above the entrance to the building. In the middle of a number of roses is the coat of arms of the company. Both counties have roses as their symbol (Lancashire a red rose, and Yorkshire a white one) and the coat of arms are taken from the arms of prominent cities of the two counties.
A shield has part of the arms of Manchester at the top, the Bank's home city. Below this are part of the arms of Lancaster, the county city of Lancashire on the left, and on the right the arms of York, the county town of Yorkshire.
Above the shield is a small carving of a male head.