Hale - Lancashire & Yorkshire Bank

The area now known as Hale, including Ashley Road, began as marshy farmland, with heavy clay soils preventing natural drainage well into the 19th century. In 1831, the township of Hale (then part of Bowdon parish) had a population of just 958. Growth was modest throughout the first half of the century, with only 1,164 residents recorded by 1851.

Everything changed with the opening of the Mid Cheshire Railway’s Peel Causeway station in May 1862, later renamed Hale station. The arrival of the railway transformed Hale from a rural backwater into an emerging commuter suburb. Ashley Road, which connected the station to the surrounding countryside, became the axis of this expansion, lined with artisan cottages, Victorian villas, and later, commercial premises.

By 1901, the population of Hale had reached 4,562, and Ashley Road was establishing itself as the village’s main thoroughfare. Among the key institutions to invest in a prominent location was the Lancashire & Yorkshire Bank, which commissioned a purpose-built branch at 150 Ashley Road in the early 20th century.

The building was designed by Jesse Horsfall FRIBA (1859–1910), a Todmorden-born architect whose work across West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester spanned civic buildings, libraries, and bank branches. Born on 29 January 1859, Jesse Horsfall was the son of architect-builder Henry Horsfall. He was educated privately before being articled in 1875 to G.H. Goldsmith, a Manchester architect. Horsfall combined his apprenticeship with studies in science and arts classes in Manchester.

Horsfall established his own practice in Todmorden in 1880, quickly gaining prominence with projects like the Fielden Temperance Hotel and Coffee Tavern (1880), funded by local philanthropist John Fielden. In 1884, his design for the Rochdale Free Library and Art Gallery won acclaim, and further commissions followed across civic and educational sectors, including the Liberal Club at Wardle (1885) and the Crompton Free Library.

By the mid-1890s, Horsfall had become Architect to the Lancashire & Yorkshire Bank Ltd, a role he held until his death in 1910. In this capacity, he designed several new branches, including the Hale branch, which was constructed between 1906 and 1908. The building reflects an Arts & Crafts inspired design, executed in Hare Dale stone and Accrington brick, with a slate roof.

Architectural features included prominent gables, finely carved stonework, and generous arched windows, designed to convey solidity and civic pride typical of early 20th-century bank architecture.

Horsfall maintained offices both in Todmorden (at “Burnlea”, Burnley Road—a home and office he designed in 1897) and at 4 Chapel Walks, Manchester. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1893, underscoring his professional recognition.

The Lancashire & Yorkshire Bank’s Hale branch opened in 1908, serving the growing community well into the 20th century. In 1928, following the merger of the L&Y Bank with the Bank of Liverpool and Martins, the branch became part of Martins Bank Ltd, and was later absorbed into the Barclays network through further banking consolidations.

Jesse Horsfall passed away in 1910 after a prolonged illness, aged just 51. His legacy remains through the distinctive bank buildings, libraries, and civic architecture that still populate towns across the Northwest of England. The Hale branch on Ashley Road remains one of the best-preserved examples of his commercial architecture.

In the decades following its banking use, 150 Ashley Road transitioned into retail, eventually becoming home to Steven Stone Jewellers, a third-generation family-run jeweller. The firm, established in 1937, relocated to the former bank building in the 2000s, sympathetically refurbishing the premises in 2014. The jeweller’s modern luxury showroom retains the building's historic character, blending heritage architecture with contemporary retail design.

Ashley Road continues to function as Hale’s main shopping street, with a mix of historic and modern buildings reflecting over a century of suburban evolution. Despite recent closures of many high-street bank branches, the former Lancashire & Yorkshire Bank building at No. 150 remains a prominent landmark, linking Hale’s Edwardian past with its present-day retail life.

Further research

You can find more building plans and archival records using the Trafford Local Studies catalogue

Sources

Manchester Victorian Architects

Freepages Rootsweb – Horsfall family records:

Calderdale Companion – Architectural works of Jesse Horsfall:

Martins Bank Archive – History of Lancashire & Yorkshire Bank and Martins Bank: https://www.martinsbank.co.uk/

Hale and Ashley The Past 100 Years Hale Civic Society

Citikey Directory – Historic buildings on Ashley Road, Hale.

Altrincham Today – Steven Stone Jewellers profile.

History of Hale Cheshire from Domesday to Dormitory R.N. Dore