Dark whinstone, pale dressings and two separate entrance fronts give Port William’s former bank a deliberately solid civic presence at the edge of the planned village.
Quick facts
- Date
- Later nineteenth century
- Architect / designer
- Probably Peddie and Kinnear, or Kinnear and Peddie; attribution by Historic Environment Scotland
- Type
- Bank and bank house with boundary walls, railings and gatepiers
- Designation
- Listed building, Category B (LB19578)
- OS grid reference
- NX 33937 43487
Architecture and continuing use
The two-storey building is squared and coursed in whinstone with cream-sandstone quoins, margins, band course and cornice. A three-bay bank-house front and a broader five-bay bank front each have pilastered doorpieces, while fleur-de-lis railings and octagonal gatepiers complete the boundary.
Its story
The site was not occupied by this building on the 1848 Ordnance Survey map but appeared as a bank by 1894. HES considers a design by the prolific bank architects Peddie and Kinnear, or their successor partnership, probable rather than certain. The recent Place Plan records that even the village’s mobile banking service has ceased, so the building is not presented as an operating branch.
Why it is included
It records the arrival and withdrawal of formal banking from a small coastal village and brings an unusually substantial commercial building into the architectural sample.
What to notice
- Contrasting cream sandstone against dark whinstone walling.
- Separate pilastered entrances for bank and bank house.
- Fleur-de-lis railings and conical-capped octagonal gatepiers.
Reading the surroundings
View from public streets without entering the building or grounds. Do not assume that the former banking entrance is open or that the attached residential areas are accessible.
Timeline
- Later nineteenth century The combined bank and bank house was built in a restrained institutional manner.
- 1894 Ordnance Survey mapping identified the building as a bank.
- 11 November 1994 The building and its boundary features entered the statutory list at Category B.
- 2024 The village Place Plan recorded the loss of its remaining mobile banking facility.
What we know — and what remains uncertain
The architectural attribution is explicitly probable, not documented. Current occupancy and interior use are not independently established, and no public banking function should be inferred from the historic name.
Sources & further reading
- Historic Environment Scotland: Former Bank of Scotland, Port William, LB19578 — Current designation status, official mapped location, date, fabric and significance.
- Port William Local Place Plan 2024–2034 — Recent community and local-authority evidence for village development, present facilities and the condition or use of key sites.
- Trove search: Former Bank of Scotland, Port William — National collection search for site records, surveys, photographs and archive material.
Location
OS grid reference NX 33937 43487 · Location confidence: High for the current national designation point; public text separately states access, component-identity and current-use uncertainty. · Select the marker to open its satellite view in Google Maps. On desktop, drag Pegman (the yellow figure) onto a blue road. On mobile, turn on the Street View layer and tap a blue road. Other photo markers may be user-contributed.
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