11-27-50 Lancaster Auction Mart Sub

Martins Bank 1928+

Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections

In service: 1965 – 25 March 2011

Image © Barclays Ref 0030-1539

Lancaster, Auction Mart ext 1969 Hours of Business.jpg Martins Bank has many sub-Branches at cattle market sites. In the North these are widely known as Auction Marts, and the Bank’s sub-Branch at the Lancaster Farmers’ Auction Mart is a busy one. Lancaster Auction Mart opens in 1965, and Martins Bank operates for a short time from temporary premises, until those shown above are opened. Situated close to Lancaster Moor, this area of the City is known as Golgotha, and it is believed that witches were once transported from Lancaster Jail to meet a grisly end here. However, not even witchcraft can save the Bank from its inevitable merger, and as if by magic the name above the door will be changed overnight in December 1969.

The advertisement above urges customers to ask not only for the usual “An Account at Martins Bank” booklet, but also for copies of “Finance for Farmers and Growers” – an important publication which is published first in 1955, and is continued by Barclays until the late 1980s…

This tiny sub-branch remains open for forty six years, bowing out in 2011 when banks close their cattle market branches in many parts of the country. As sub-Branches are staffed from their parent Branch on a changing basis, it is not possible for us to provide staff galleries on most of our sub-Branch pages. If you worked for Martins Bank at Lancaster Farmers’ Auction Mart Sub, we would love to hear from you. Please do get in touch with us at the usual address – martinsbankarchive@btinternet.com.