5 Baillie Street started life as a purpose-built shop but it was later used as a parcel & enquiries office for the railway.  It was built circa 1840 and is constructed of a mellow orange brick with sandstone decoration that has been heavily painted.  English Heritage explains that, "... Baillie Street was laid out around 1835 when it is shown on a town map as part of a small grid of new streets imposed on the earlier streetscape on the east side of Rochdale town centre. It was named after Colonel Hugh Duncan Baillie, owner of the land. No properties appear in the 1837 trade directory indicating that they were still under construction, but by 1843 there is a record of a William Fulton, spirit, ale, and porter merchant, Baillie Street. He again appears in 1851, when a trade directory lists No 5 as 'Porter dealers, Fulton and Dow (and ale)'.   .....   In 1861 the property was still being used as a wine and spirits merchants, run by J H Kirtley. In 1869 Kirtley had moved to 25 Baillie Street and No 5 was listed as the Enquiry and Parcel Office for the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Line. By 1899-1900 the premises were shared with the Great Central Railway Company, and in 1916 the building provided a joint office for the Lancashire & Yorkshire, London & North Western, and Midland Railways. It was also the premises of the Rochdale Card and Blowing Room and Ring Spinners Association. By 1935 the railway companies had moved out, although the Association remained, together with H Marsh, scale makers. More recently No 5 has been occupied by various building societies, a solicitors' firm, and a shop on the ground floor."