The Great Northern Warehouse is a grade 2* [1] listed former railway goods warehouse (see Manchester Central for more details) located at the junction of Deansgate and Peter Street in the centre of Manchester, England. The railway warehouse closed as a result of the Beeching Axe in 1963[1] and lay derelict until 1998 when redevelopment work started to turn it into an entertainment venue.
The development is now owned by X-Leisure and comprises cinema, casino, bars, restaurants and shops. A large night club is due to open in 2008.
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History
Building work began in 1885, when the railways were booming. In order to build the Great Northern Warehouse - nine acres of streets, back-to-back houses, foundries, hotels, inns, a burial ground and a school were swept away.
The Warehouse was completed in August 1899 but operations started in July 1898 when only the ground and first floors were complete such was the demand for the goods station. Inside was a spaghetti junction of rail lines with five platforms and twenty five cranes. To facilitate the movement of goods, wagon turntables were incorporated at the end of the lines to allow wagons to be turned round. The Manchester and Salford Junction canal, constructed in 1839, ran under the Warehouse, passing through a specially-built dock.
Two 40-cwt lifts shafts were used to transport goods to each of the building's six levels, ready for dispatch to their next destination whether by canal or horse and cart.
The construction of the Warehouse, which was designed and built by Mr W.T. Foxlee was a typically Victorian design on a grand scale. The construction employed 800 men and used 25 million bricks, 50,000 tons of concrete and 1.5 million rivets.
When the goods station opened, 350 men were employed, with stabling for eighty horses beneath the viaduct. The station boasted that it could deliver any package received before 4pm to a station anywhere in the country by 8am the following morning.
The appearance of the Warehouse was disliked so much, that Deansgate Terrace (now a listed building), the longest in the UK, was built as a screen in 1900 In 1922, the great Northern Railway was incorporated into the London and North Eastern Railway. This is commemorated by the retention of the signs on the Deansgate Terrace.
During the Second World War, the canal, which had been operational until 1922, served a very different purpose. The canal was drained in order to provide an air raid shelter for the public. The walls built across the canals to stop any blast going right through the tunnels are still there. It is planned to open these tunnels to the public.
The Warehouse was closed in 1963.
Bars & Restaurants
- Relish, bar and upscale restaurant facing onto Great Northern Square
- Evuna, Spanish tapas restaurant and wine importer located on Deansgate
- Numero, Italian restaurant located inside Manchester 235 Casino
- Linen, up-scale restaurant located inside Manchester 235 Casino
- Bar 38, bar and club with large outdoor area onto the Great Northern Square
Nightclubs
- Oceana, large nightclub featuring themed zones in the club will be over Ground Floor, Mezzanine and First Floor entrances will be on Great Northern Square and in the AMC atrium OPENS IN 2008
Entertainment
- AMC Cinemas Large 16 Screen Mega-plex Cinema complex.
- Manchester 235 Large up-scale casino with two restaurants and live venue. Numero, an Italian themed restaurant and Linen an upscale English restaurant. Also features Manchester Live 235, a live music venue within the casino.
Sport and Leisure
- Virgin Active located within on the ground floor of the NCP car park
Shops and other retail
- Coffee History shop, located on Deansgate
- Feather & Black, furniture store, located on Deansgate
- Keramica, furniture store, located on Deansgate
- New Heights, furniture store, located on Deansgate
- Rimo, carpet store, located on Deansgate
- Sueno, bedroom store, located on Deansgate
- Wesley Barrell, furniture store, located on Deansgate
- Dwell, urban furniture store, located on Deansgate and Great Northern Square
Parking
- 1,200 car park spaces through-out the scheme operated by NCP Manchester.
References
External links
