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  WELCOME to Martins Bank
Archive, and to MARTINS
BANK MAGAZINE -
our news feature in honour of the Bank’s staff publication, which from 1946
to 1969 brought news of changing times, new Branches and services and even
new technologies to those working in branches and departments in England
Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. From Drive-In Branches to
computers and the Cash Dispenser, it seems that Martins Bank has it all,
yet on 1 November 1968, it becomes just one more of the Barclays Group of
Companies. This status is maintained only until close of Business on Friday
12 December 1969, as from the following Monday, 730 branches of the bank
will open their doors under the name of Barclays.
… and then there were SIX…
A further closure of a Martins Bank branch slipped by us on 11 April
2025, when Ramsey Isle of Man closed permanently from 12 noon. There are
now only SIX Martins Bank Branches still open. Those of you who lost your
local Barclays branch in recent years will know that a number of banking
options remain following closure – “Barclays Local” involves the Bank
hiring a room in a public building, such as a town hall or library, and
sending a member of staff there for a certain number of hours each week. No
cash services are available, so if you visit your “local” you will need to
be prepared to talk products and services.
Barclays also operates a number of vans and pop-up “banking pods”
where again, if you are not relying on cash for your personal or business
needs, you can talk about banking. A
more universal service is offered by most banks – Barclays included – in conjunction
with the post Office, who run “Banking Hubs”. Here, your bank is likely to offer
attendance for one day each week, with cash services provided by the Post
Office.
Branches opened in 1965…
In the swinging 1960s, banks in all parts of the United Kingdom opened
new branches like there was no tomorrow!
It seems a strange concept indeed to us in the twenty-first century
to think of any bank opening a new branch, but sixty years ago, we were not
quite at the stage where computers would begin to take over in the way that
they eventually did, leaving thousands of bank branches closed, and the use
of cash for everyday transactions significantly diminished. The following Branches were opened in
1965, so why not visit them and marvel, as that most fantastic of all bank
services – the branch – comes to town in so many places!
Branches from A to
Z
We have now relaunched our BRANCHES A TO Z page, to enhance the experience of browsing our portfolio
of just over 1000 buildings in use between 1928 and 1969 as Branches of
Martins Bank. The new menus include,
wherever possible, images of buildings, to guide you as you search out
branch pages that take your fancy.
More relevance has been placed on the origins of some branches which
came from among the many constituent Banks that at one time or other were
merged, taken over, or amalgamated into what became the modern day Martins
Bank.
We are sure you will enjoy your journey around Martins Bank’s
Branches. Please note that the
Branches by District sections have now been removed from the web site. You
will however, still be able to visit individual District Offices and their
departments.
Important News
about the Martins Bank Staff Database
 We would like to draw your attention to the completion of the first
major phase of the Martins Bank Staff Database. The career details of more than 25,000
member of the Staff of martins Bank Limited, have been put together from
the information published by Martins Bank in its magazine and other
publications, and this has been in the public domain for at least
fifty-five years. It is vital that surviving members of Martins Bank’s
staff have the opportunity to see the career details held for them, and to
understand about how and why the database exists as a social history
resource that seeks to preserve the name of Martins Bank for the interest
of future generations.
Please CLICK
HERE or on the image of
the NEWS RELEASE pictured (left) to
obtain this information, and if, once you have read it, you would like to
receive your career details, please do get in touch with the archive by
email at the following address: martinsbankarchive@btinternet.com. If you are the relative of a deceased
member of the staff and would like to obtain details of their career –
perhaps as part of family tree research, please contact Martins Bank
Archive at the same address.
Banking on trust…
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 Formed from the existing trustee
and investment business of Martins Bank, which dated back to 1908 when
the Bank of Liverpool first opened a trustee department, Martins Bank
Trust Company Limited brought together a number of servies which had been
key earners for the bank in the various parts of the country where there
was either a Trustee Office, an Income Tax Department, or both.
By the late 1960s, notwithstanding
the search for another bank with with to merge, Martins Bank aquired a
number of smaller specialist companies as subsidiaries, each of which
specialised in financial services, that would enable the Bank to spread
its interests, provide a more comprehensive offering to the customer AND that would profit the
Bank, by retaining those customers might have gone elsewhere for these
services.
Thanks to the Denis
Maxwell Collection, our Archive now has insight into these companies, as
well as the merger processes that began as early as 1961 and continued on
and off until the merger with Barclays.
When you visit our TRUSTEE AND INVESTMENT SERVICES feature page, you will
now find more detailed information than we have previously offered for
the following:
·
Dillon Walker
& Co
·
Griffin Assurance
·
Martins
Unicorn
·
Martins Bank (Finance)
Limited
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I bought the Bank (continued)…
 We are always delighted to
hear from friend of the Archive David Phelan, who featured on this site a
few years ago when he purchased the former Martins Bank Branch at
Grange-over-Sands following its permanent closure on 1 May 2019. He has
turned it not only into a beautiful and comfortable home, but has also
collected appropriate banking memorabilia with which to furnish and
decorate it.
David is of course very
interested in the history of the building, and always on the lookout for
period pictures. This lovely image (right) of the branch in its days as the
Bank of Liverpool Ltd, is one of those acquisitions, and we are always
grateful for David’s input to our own Archive. Many people down the years
have wondered if Grange-over-Sands branch was originally some kind of
chapel or even a church, but no, it was built this way as a bank.
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Images © Martins Bank Archive Collections – D T
Phelan
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Keeping a permanent
record
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1960s Image ©
Barclays Ref 0030-1693
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2000s Image © Martins Bank Archive
Collections
– ROBERT MONTGOMERY
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An unexpected result of the closure of former Martins Bank Branches
in recent years, has been the sight of the Bank’s original signage still
etched – sometimes faintly, others clear as day – in the stonework above
the door or window of a branch.
Friend of Martins Bank Archive, Robert Montgomery, has since 2009
been on a mission to photograph former branches of the big banks, that have
fallen on their sword in the name of progress. In the process he has accumulated many
images of former Martins Branches. We look forward to being able to add
these to our Branch Network pages over the coming months, but as a taster,
we are showing here a side-by-side comparison of LIVERPOOL
WOOLTON Branch. On the left you see the branch in the
1960s, and on the right, looking almost as if time has stood still for
sixty years, you can see how the branch looked a couple of days after it
was closed in June of this year.
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Liverpool Childwall Five Ways – Closed
02/10/2015
Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections
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GARY OWENS
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Liverpool Booker Avenue – Closed 19/02/2016
Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections
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GARY OWENS
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South Shields Harton – Closed 10/05/2019
Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections
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ROBIN LAWSON
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Buyer Beware…
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We have left the following article here once again for reference, to
help explain the position regarding the theft of copyrighted images for the
purposes of re-sale. There is a common misconception that if
you can Google an image, then it is “in the public domain” and you can do
what you want with it. Even some staff at eBay® believed this until they
were recently put right – if you
take or copy someone else’s work or property without their permission or
acknowledgement, and sell it on to
make even a penny out of it, this is breach of copyright, and the real
owner can take legal recourse to stop further theft and misuse of their
property. There are currently on eBay® a number of
listings of photographs for sale, showing scenes from the past and old
buildings including these four (and many more) Branches of Martins
Bank. These images originated on our
web site. As you can see, under our
agreement with the owner, we prominently display copyright. These images
have been copied and printed onto cheap photographic paper. The seller even
has the gall to add their own watermark to the displayed images to prevent
others from stealing them!!!
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STAINLAND
Image © Barclays
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SITTINGBOURNE
Image created by Martins Bank
Archive and © Barclays
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BURTON UPON TRENT
Image © Barclays
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WALLASEY
Image © Barclays
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As well as being
against copyright law, these items are worthless, having little more than
sentimental value – you will often find that collections and archives will
make images available free of charge for private use, but you MUST check
with them first. You should always check the seller’s right to copy the
image – reputable sites such as eBay® do now allow you to report copyright
infringement. For ANY item of memorabilia, the best thing to do is shop
around and compare prices – in the case of Martins Bank there are often
more than two hundred different items for sale on eBay® alone on any given
day. For printed material which
looks as if it has been copied, or actually claims to be a copy, ALWAYS
question the seller about copyright.
Best Regards, Jonathan.
Westmorland, Sunday 1ST June 2025
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WHILST MARTINS BANK
ARCHIVE HAS NO CONNECTION WITH THE DAY-TO-DAY TRADING ACTIVITIES OF THE
BARCLAYS GROUP OF COMPANIES,
WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR THE CONTINUED GENEROUS GUIDANCE, ADVICE
AND SUPPORT OF BARCLAYS
GROUP ARCHIVES IN THE BUILDING AND SHAPING OF THIS ONLINE SOCIAL HISTORY.
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