The
Grocers' Warehouse - Castlefield
The warehouse is indicated in the aerial photograph below (taken in 1953) by the number 3.
The Grocers' Warehouse
was constructed at the beginning of the 19th Century in
the Bridgewater Canal Basin at Castlefield. It was
one of the first large warehouses in the basin and
probably the first warehouse in Britain where barges
could be unloaded within the building. In 1811 the
warehouse was sold to the Manchester Grocers' Company
hence the name. The Manchester Grocers' Company
vessels sailed daily to and from Castle-Quay,
Manchester, and the Grocers' Company Wharf in
Liverpool. The warehouse had a water-powered hoist
for unloading goods from the barges and liften them up
to the road level on the cliff behind.
The warehouse is indicated in the aerial photograph below (taken in 1953) by the number 3.
If you click on the link
below, you can see the site of the old warehouse in 1972
after it had been demolished and before the
reconstruction was created. You can see the
archways that mark the places where the barges once
entered the warehouse.
Grocers'
Warehouse
The site has changed
quite a lot over the years and the warehouse itself
was demolished in 1960. A partial
reconstruction was created in 1987. The images
below show you each of the numbered locations on the
aerial photograph. The images were taken in
December of 2010.
Number 1 - the
Rochdale Canal between Deansgate and Duke's Lock
Number 2 - The Railway Viaduct which crosses Deansgate, Castle Street and the canal.
Number 3 - the partially reconstructed warehouse site.
Number 4 - The Rochdale Canal beyond the viaduct
Number 5 - Bridge across the Bridgewater Canal
Number 2 - The Railway Viaduct which crosses Deansgate, Castle Street and the canal.
Number 3 - the partially reconstructed warehouse site.
Number 4 - The Rochdale Canal beyond the viaduct
Number 5 - Bridge across the Bridgewater Canal