Portland Street Warehouses
- 103 to 117 Portland Street -



On the south side of Portland Street between Princess Street and Dickinson Street there are a series of 19th Century warehouses.  As you can see from the image above, this isn't a single structure but a conglomeration of adjacent but unrelated buildings.  In 2011 these buildings provide office space and some limited street retail and service outlets.  Numbers 113 to 115 are also home to CUBE, the Centre for Understanding the Built Environment.

Below is my version of an 1888 plan of the buildings showing the occupants.  Beside it I have shown how the individual buildings make up this block.



Starting at the Dickinson Street end of the block we have a Grade II Listed Building that today is part of the Bruntwood fleet of office buildings in the city centre and home to the CUBE Gallery.  It has the appearance of a Clegg and Knowles warehouse.






Next door is Gainsborough House, a rather unusual 5 bay red brick and stone building with two entrances on Portland Street.  I'm describing it as unusual in that the last two bays of the building are one storey lower than the rest of the building.  The windows on each storey are in a different style.









To the left of Gainsborough House is Basil House, numbers 105 and 107 Portland Street.






The block is completed by Portland House.  As the plan above indicates, this building was home, in 1888, to S. & C. Norlinger, merchant.  Infact, it was still occupied by Norlinger in 1909 according to the Slaters Directory of Manchester & Salford. 












The building has a second entrance on Princess Street at number 40.



There is also a goods entrance which provides access to an inner courtyard.



The building sports three stone coats of arms.  On Portland Street you can see the one below which is the Manchester Corporation coat of arms.




Around on Princess Steeet there are two more.  One I recognize as the Salford coat of arms.



But the one below I cannot identify.  It shows the three lions and a crown which suggests a royal crest but the dogs holding plumes is a bit of a mystery at present.



There are also a number of terracotta plaques with latin inscriptions, as you can see below.  Perseverantia meaning perseverance.



Honestate meaning Honesty.