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 Lucky to find such a handsome building so late in
the day, Martins Bank opens this Branch at 15 Queen Square in the November
of 1967. Having made it through the
merger with Barclays, the Branch remains open until May 2016, which
indicates it was a very good choice for an office that would stand
the tests both of time and of long-term business prospects. Amongst a
number of otherwise nondescript site survey photographs – taken by Martins
Bank’s premises department in preparation for the new branch – is one that
provides this rare glimpse into 1960s street advertising, and another
company that has been with us for a very long time!
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In Service: 15
November 1967 to 12 May 2016
Image © Barclays Ref: 0030-0419
  Even in January this new branch looks attractive. By
the time these words are read there will be buds on the trees around the
square and perhaps the braver souls will already be enjoying their sandwich
lunches on the grass in the cool spring breezes.
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Two hundred years ago 'the
square' was 'the marsh' but the building of docks enclosed it and around
the edge warehouses were built, some of which survive today along with a
few 18th century houses. Two sides
of the square were demolished in the Gordon riots and rebuilt later, but in
recent years this green oasis has developed to become Bristol's
professional centre for solicitors, estate agents and accountants. The
whisky warehouse therefore adjoins the branch by accident rather than by
design and there is no means of access—not even from the underground car park,
because our branch basement rather unsportingly intervenes.
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Branch Images © Barclays Ref: 0030-0419
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Although the A4 runs diagonally across the square it is
to be re-routed round the outside and the square will then become even
quieter than at present, but let nobody mistake quietness for somnolence.
The new office is most appropriately a modern businessman's branch,
air-conditioned and designed in attractive materials which include a
fibreglass counter-front with a decorative panel behind carrying a
mercantile motif. The office has
elegance and warmth yet it is very much alive and functional. Sycamore and
rosewood predominate and a long glass screen at the back forms a
clack-proof barrier between the machine room and the main office. There is
more colour than we expected, but the interior photograph gives a fair idea
of the contrast between materials. Upstairs the staff room overlooks the
square and there is ample space for future expansion.
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 Image © Barclays Ref: 0030-0419
 Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections
Image © Barclays Ref: 0030-0419
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Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections
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The business is fully
mechanised. Mr Lucas and three of his staff came from Broadmead branch in
November to open this, the sixth office in Bristol, and the Bank's
confidence in the possibilities at Queen Square has not been misplaced. We
were glad to trap Mr Shorland for a photograph, having 'done' Swindon
branch when he was away, and to meet Mr Hagon whose name we knew well from
golfing reports and who is a nephew of 'Sam' in the North Eastern
District. The girls are just what
one expects the Bank's girls to be—ambassadresses in their individual way—and
showing good taste even in their choice of crockery for the new branch.
Goodness, women showing good taste!
AND they can even choose crockery without help from a man! … what would
nowadays be rightly called out as blatent sexism, is, back in 1968, a
perfectly innocent reference to the gender stereotyping still prevalent at
the time of “women’s lib”. We are
quite sure that ANY of the male staff could also have made “the right
choice of crockery for the new branch”!
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