Now the RBS Bank on the corner of Wilbraham and Barlow Moor Roads may have a new life, with news of a planning application for a change of use*.
Long ago, the van man was there removing the last bits and pieces of the bank, and earlier the signs had come down revealing the older name of William Deacon’s Bank Ltd.
But walk around to the side and on the gate post is the name Sunwick which is what the place was known during the late 19th century and into the next.
It was a large house consisting of 11 rooms, with small gardens at the back, front and northern side, and was encompassed by a tall brick wall. A little of the wall still survives on Wilbraham Road in front of that low level addition to the original building.
And for those who like a bit of continuity, that bench just beyond the bank has been the site of a public seat back into the 1890s.
The property was distinctive enough for the map makers to include the its name on the OS map for 1896 and it appears to have been built sometime around 1885, when it was occupied by a Dr Andrew Denholme who sold it onto Dr George Byrne in February of the following year.
Dr Byrne was still there in the early years of the last century and by 1911 was home to the Case family.**
All of which points to the property having been associated with doctors from the outset.
A close trawl of the directories will offer up the moment it passed from a residential property to a bank, which it certainly was by the 1930s.
But, as to what it will become, that is idle speculation although some may assume it will become another bar, leading one wag to rename the junction, three banks and a bar.
It's change of use under the recent planning application awaits a decision,.
So we shall see.
For now I left wondering if anything was left in the bank from the days it was Sunwick.
I did once go in and ask nut was told there was nothing.
Not, I suspect that the staff would have countenanced letting a total stranger wander through what was after all a place full of money.
And yes, I did even toy with asking the chaps with the van if I could have a look, but I fear the answer would have been much the same.
Picture, the old RBS/ William Deacon’s Bank, 2018 from the collection of Andrew Simpson, Kemp’s Corner and Sunwick circa 1900, from the Lloyd Collection and Sunwick in 1896, from the OS map of South Lancashire, courtesy of Digital Archive Association, digitalarchives.co.uk/
*Manchester Planning Portal, 123949/FO/2019 | Change of use from Bank to Retail, Office, and Hot food Takeaway, together with installation of extraction flue , erection of single storey front extension and associated elevational alterations, 464 Wilbraham Road Manchester M21 9AR, https://pa.manchester.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=PTAH6KBCG5H00&activeTab=summary
**Census, Enu 18 664, Didsbury, South Manchester, Lancashire, 1911
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| The ghost sign, 2018 |
But walk around to the side and on the gate post is the name Sunwick which is what the place was known during the late 19th century and into the next.
It was a large house consisting of 11 rooms, with small gardens at the back, front and northern side, and was encompassed by a tall brick wall. A little of the wall still survives on Wilbraham Road in front of that low level addition to the original building.
 |
| A building waiting for a future, 2018 |
The property was distinctive enough for the map makers to include the its name on the OS map for 1896 and it appears to have been built sometime around 1885, when it was occupied by a Dr Andrew Denholme who sold it onto Dr George Byrne in February of the following year.
Dr Byrne was still there in the early years of the last century and by 1911 was home to the Case family.**
 |
| Sunwick, circa 1900 |
A close trawl of the directories will offer up the moment it passed from a residential property to a bank, which it certainly was by the 1930s.
But, as to what it will become, that is idle speculation although some may assume it will become another bar, leading one wag to rename the junction, three banks and a bar.
It's change of use under the recent planning application awaits a decision,.
So we shall see.
For now I left wondering if anything was left in the bank from the days it was Sunwick.
 |
| Sunwick, 1894 |
Not, I suspect that the staff would have countenanced letting a total stranger wander through what was after all a place full of money.
And yes, I did even toy with asking the chaps with the van if I could have a look, but I fear the answer would have been much the same.
Picture, the old RBS/ William Deacon’s Bank, 2018 from the collection of Andrew Simpson, Kemp’s Corner and Sunwick circa 1900, from the Lloyd Collection and Sunwick in 1896, from the OS map of South Lancashire, courtesy of Digital Archive Association, digitalarchives.co.uk/
*Manchester Planning Portal, 123949/FO/2019 | Change of use from Bank to Retail, Office, and Hot food Takeaway, together with installation of extraction flue , erection of single storey front extension and associated elevational alterations, 464 Wilbraham Road Manchester M21 9AR, https://pa.manchester.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=PTAH6KBCG5H00&activeTab=summary
**Census, Enu 18 664, Didsbury, South Manchester, Lancashire, 1911
I real hope it doesn't end up a 'Burger Bar', there really needs to be a petition.
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