The last major bank to establish a presence in Morwell was the E.S. & A. Bank. They opened their branch at number 13 Church Street on January 2nd. 1957.
The first manager was Mr. Colin W. Birrell. Before coming to Morwell Mr. Birrell was the Manager at the bank’s Moorabbin branch.
The building was very modern in design; its most striking feature was the placement of the strongroom at the front of the building.
The ceiling rose to a height of twenty feet which gave the feeling of spaciousness to the relatively narrow building. The fronts of the counters were covered in gold anodised aluminium. Other materials used for fittings included highly polished natural coloured and stained silver ash.
The exterior was decorated with blue Italian mosaic tiles, giving the narrow fronted building a distinctive and pleasing look to the eye.
The bank was taken over by the ANZ Bank and closed in 1990.
The Vault on Church – Restaurant and Bar