Oxford Place
This seven-storey Portland stone office building on Oxford Road, between the River Medlock and the railway viaduct at one end and Charles Street at the other, calls itself Oxford Place.  Today, it is a mixed-use building with retail outlets at street level and office space above.
The building appears to date from the 1930's.  An image in the Manchester Central Library digital collection shows the building in the 1930s and calls it Imperial House.  An interesting feature of the building at that time was that it was home to Gaskell's Baths Ltd offering, "WAX BATHS for SLIMMING and RHEUMATISM - TURKISH and MEDICAL BATHS - WAX FACIALS and BEAUTY TREATMENTS" - and - "SWIMMING LESSONS IN WARM POOL" and as if that wasn't enough - "LADIES HAIRDRESSING"

A contemporary advert read as follows:


GASKELL'S BATHS

SWIMMING AND DIVING LESSONS ALL THE YEAR
ROUND IN WARMTH, COMFORT AND PRIVACY

All ages - either sex.  Special care of children and nervous pupils.
Expert tuition - Male and Female Teachers
Lessons given under the personal supervision of
PEGGY GASKELL, A.S.A., Advn Hons. Diploma, R.L.S.S.

TURKISH and MEDICAL
ZOTOFOAM * RADIENT HEAT * PEAT
MINERAL and PINE BATHS for OBESITY,
RHEUMATISM, SCIATICA, LUMBAGO, ETC.

IMPERIAL BUILDINGS - OXFORD ROAD BRIDGE
MANCHESTER 1 telephone ARDwick 2452


The plan below is my copy of the Goad map from 1939 and you can see that it shows Baths in the basement.



Below is an aerial photograph from the 1950s showing the building's location.



It appears that Gaskell's Baths continued to operate in Imperial House into the 1950s.  An image of the building in the 1960s shows that by then the name had changed to Shell BP House and it was also home to a branch of the Midland Bank.


The Central Library image collection also has an image of the corner of Oxford Road and Charles Street in 1920 before this building was erected.

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