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Banking in Bradford on Avon
Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire
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Lloyds Bank, Church Street, Bradford on Avon
Banking in Bradford was initially closely linked to that of nearby Bath and several partners of firms there were of Bradford families.
The Bath Bank was founded in 1768 in what is now known as General Wolfe’s House in Trim Street by the partnership of Cam, Clutterbuck, Whitehead, Danvers & Philllot. Samuel Cam was a clothier at The Chantry in Bradford, Daniel Clutterbuck was a Bradford lawyer and Manasseh Whitehead had interests in London as well; a street in Bradford still bears the name Whitehead’s Lane. The bank had become Hobhouse, Clutterbuck, Phillot and Lowder by 1796, with Sir Benjamin Hobhouse inheriting from Samuel Cam. This bank had a branch in Bradford, but got into difficulties in 1827 through lending too much and finally went bankrupt in 1841 as a knock-on from the failure of two major woollen cloth manufacturers in Bradford.
Another Bath bank, that of Clement & Tugwell was founded as the High Street Bank in 1787, with George Hayward Tugwell of a Bradford clothier family as one of the partners. The bank closed in 2019.
By the mid-19th century banks had grown to be larger companies by amalgamations and takeovers with many branches and the Hobhouse bank was replaced with the North Wilts Banking Company, which ended up as part of Lloyds in 1918 and existed here until 2017. Another in Church Street was the Wilts & Dorset Bank, which was also taken over by Lloyds, in 1914.
The London Joint City & Midland Bank, later just Midland Bank, was established in the Town Hall building in Church Street, becoming part of the Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank (HSBC). The Bradford on Avon Branch has now closed and its premises used by the Bradford on Avon Hub, a charity helping people in need.
The subsequent closure of the Lloyds Bank in May 2017 left the town without any bank and, for a few months, the town centre was without an ATM.
The Lloyds Bank building was converted into offices and studios for advertising agency Team Eleven (link opens in a new tab) in 2019.
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Church House was the office of the bank of Hobhouse, Phillot & Lowder that went bankrupt in 1841 with disastrous consequences for the town
The North Wilts Bank built Bradford’s only dedicated bank building in Church Street in the 1860s.
2 Church Street is called Old Bank House after its use by the Wilts & Dorset Bank
A 1896 cheque from the Bradford branch of the Capital & Counties Bank, a company that resulted from the amalgamation of the North Wilts Bank and the Hampshire Banking Company in 1877.
A 1912 cheque from the same company, with brewer Alex Wilkins paying J. Allon Tucker of Ladydown Mill the considerable sum, for that time, of £230.
In 1924 the London Joint City & Midland Bank had renamed itself as Midland Bank and this cheque from the Bradford branch has been overprinted to reflect the new title.
The only reminder of the former Midland Bank today is its night safe