Parker Street
Warehouses
Prior to the World War II
Blitz, on December 23, 1940, Parker Street was lined on the southwest
side, across from Piccadilly Gardens, by a row of warehouses. The
plan below shows the configuration in 1886.
Below is the site in 1851 on the Adshead map (shown with the permission of Chetham's Library)
Below is the site in 1851 on the Adshead map (shown with the permission of Chetham's Library)
The occupants of the various
warehouses clearly changed over the years. The images below were
taken circa 1910.
Above you can see numbers 2 to
4 Parker Street with the name of Templeton at the top. J.
Templeton & Co was a Glasgow carpet manufacturer with offices in
Manchester, London, Melbourne and Montreal. On the ground floor
is a sign for "Staines Inlaid Linoleums". At the beginning of
the 20th Century the linoleum manufacturing industry was centred in
three areas of the UK, in East Scotland, Lancashire and
Staines. The finest linoleum floors were known as 'inlaid
linoleum'. They were extremely durable and made by joining and
inlaying solid pieces of linoleum. In 1864, the Linoleum
Manufacturing Company Ltd established a factory in Staines
to manufacture it. The 1927 Directory for Manchester
& Salford lists the Linoleum Manufacturing Company Ltd at 2 Parker
Street.
Above is number 6 Parker Street belonging to Peel Watson & Co, warehousemen.
If you click on the link below you can see a photograph taken soon after the blitz along Parker Street.
Above is number 6 Parker Street belonging to Peel Watson & Co, warehousemen.
The life of the warehouses came
to an abrupt end over two nights in December 1940. On the night
of December 22, 270 German bombers deopped 272 tons of high explosives
and 1,032 incendiary bombs. They returned on the following night
to drop a further 195 tons of high explosive and 893
incendiaries. A total of 684 people were killed and 2.364 injured
and many major building such as the Cathedral and the Free Trade Hall
were severely damaged. One of the hardest hit areas was the
warehouse district around Piccadilly Gardens. Below is an aerial
photograph taken in May of 1953, showing the aftermath. The
carparks mark the ruins of the former warehouses.
If you click on the link below you can see a photograph taken soon after the blitz along Parker Street.
Manchester
Blitz
December 23, 1940
../stations/piccadillybus2.jpg
You can see from the aerial
photograph that Parker Street was a bus station for city buses.
It is seen in the image below.
../stations/piccadillybus2.jpg
That continues to be the case
today, and along with the buses there is now a major interchange stop
for the Metrolink trams.
Across Parker Street from
Piccadilly Gardens, where the warehouse once stood, stands what was
originally called Piccadilly Plaza. The complex of building was
designed by Covell
Mathews and Partners and built between 1959 and 1965. It comprised the
Piccadilly Hotel (on the left), Sunley House (the tower in the centre
standing end-on to Piccadilly Gardens) and Bernard House. Below
you can see it under construction.
Today the tower has been
renamed City Tower and it is part of the Bruntwood fleet of city centre
office spaces.
