SALFORD HUNDRED 



the open space in which it stood. It was pulled 

 down in 1910. 



A new infirmary is now completed in Oxford 

 Road (Chorlton township). 



The Free Trade Hall in Peter Street (E. Walters, 

 architect, 1856) is a good example of Renaissance 

 design, now much spoiled by the addition of a glass 

 veranda in front of the open arcade on the ground 

 floor. The front consists of two well-marked stories 

 about 70 ft. high with a heavy cornice, and the 

 interior contains a great hall which has seats for 

 3,236 persons. 



In later years a Gothic tradition was set up by the 

 erection in Strangeways (in Cheetham township) of 

 the new Assize Courts (A. Waterhouse, architect, 

 1864), a ^ ne building of its kind, standing back from 

 the road on an uncontracted site of which full ad- 

 vantage was taken. The elevation is rather florid, 

 with little of the restraint of the architect's later 

 work, but much of the best work is in the interior, 

 not only in the matter of planning, which is ad- 

 mirable, but of general design and ornamental detail. 

 The City Court House, in Minshull Street (T. 

 Worthington, architect, 1871), is a brick building 

 of a pronouncedly Italian Gothic style, set in a region 

 of tall warehouses at the junction of two narrow 

 streets, but saved from insignificance by the fine tower 

 which rises from the pavement at the outer angle. 



The Town Hall (A. Waterhouse, architect, 1868- 

 77), in Albert Square, described as * one of the very 

 few really satisfactory buildings of modern times,' la 

 is purely Gothic in style, but less elaborate and far 

 more dignified than the Assize Courts, being based 

 rather upon early English and French precedents 

 than upon those of Italy. The ashlar facing is of 

 brown sandstone, now black, but in remarkably good 

 condition after thirty-five years' exposure, disposed in 

 blocks varying in size but regularly laid in courses of 

 deep and very narrow stones alternately. The chief 

 external feature of the building is the clock tower, 

 which is carried up over the principal entrance facing 

 Albert Square, and is 280 ft. in height. The plan is 

 an irregular triangle, all three sides facing important 

 thoroughfares, with a truncated angle or short front 

 opposite to the state entrance. The building is 

 widely known and generally admired as a masterly 

 feat of planning, the offices and rooms being arranged 

 round three internal courts, and corridors running in 

 unbroken lines round the building on every floor 

 following the inner sides of the main triangle. The 

 great hall, which occupies the centre of the block on 

 the first floor level, is 100 ft. long by 50 ft. wide, 

 with a hammer-beam roof 5 8 ft. high, and the lower 

 part of the walls is enriched by a series of twelve 

 paintings by Ford Madox Brown, illustrating events 

 in local history, each painting occupying the width of 

 one bay beneath the windows. 1 ** 



Albert Square, which is somewhat narrow for its 

 length, shows the Gothic influence in buildings on 

 its south side and in the canopy for the Albert Statue, 

 but it is otherwise architecturally uninteresting. The 

 Royal Exchange (Mills and Murgatroyd, architects, 

 1871) indicates a return to the classic tradition, the 



MANCHESTER 



Corinthian order being used, but it is a building 

 without particular distinction, and is set too near to 

 the pavement on every side to be effectively seen, and 

 has no direct line of approach to its main entrance. 

 The dome, its chief constructional and architectural 

 feature when seen at a distance, is effectually anc 1 

 deliberately concealed by a high blank upper story. 



The John Rylands Library, built in memory of her 

 husband by Mrs. Rylands (Basil Champneys, archi- 

 tect, 1890-99), is a fine structure in the Gothic style, 

 built in red sandstone with a boldly original exterior 

 to Deansgate, set back at a peculiar angle to the 

 building line of the street. The library proper is 

 placed on the upper floor, and on the ground floor 

 the whole of the front part of the building is taken 

 up with a spacious vaulted vestibule, and a wide 

 staircase. The library consists of a centre corridor, 

 125 ft. long and 20 ft. wide, terminating in an apse, 

 and has a groined stone roof 44 ft. high. It is 

 divided into eight bays used as reading recesses, and 

 each with a bay window, and a gallery runs com- 

 pletely round the central space, giving access to other 

 book recesses above. The fittings throughout are 

 of the most lavish character, and the interior is 

 decorated with a series of portrait statues ranged 

 in niches along the gallery front, as well as with 

 carving and stained glass. The library contains 

 over 80,000 volumes, including the famous Althorp 

 Library purchased from Earl Spencer in 1892, and 

 additions are being constantly made. It is particu- 

 larly rich in early printed books and in Bibles. 



The older warehouses were plain structures built 

 in brick, but about the middle of last century a 

 number of such buildings, which, in addition to 

 being ordinary warehouses, were also the head offices 

 of the firm, were erected in the centre of the town, 

 possessing no little architectural merit. Many streets 

 are composed almost entirely of these buildings, 

 which, being constructed of stone, are now black, 

 but their large scale and long frontages give them 

 great dignity, Portland Street in this respect offering 

 a very fine vista of unbroken line. The later ware- 

 house buildings are chiefly constructed in brick and 

 terra cotta, and steel construction has now largely 

 superseded the older methods. 



In addition to these and a number of churches 

 and schools, there are many important and useful 

 structures. The Corporation provides libraries, tech- 

 nical schools, markets, and other public buildings. 

 There is a Central Post Office off Market Street ; the 

 Inland Revenue Office is in Deansgate. Besides 

 the infirmary there are numerous hospitals and chari- 

 table institutions. 13 The Nonconformists' Memo- 

 rial Hall in Albert Square, intended to comme- 

 morate the steadfastness of various ministers ejected 

 from benefices in 1662, and the Young Men's Chris- 

 tian Association building in Peter Street about to be 

 rebuilt may also be mentioned. There are many 

 theatres and music halls. 



The woollen and cloth trades and the manufacture 

 of smallwares appear to have been the original staple 

 business of the town. There were also collieries at 

 Ancoats and Collyhurst. 14 An iron foundry was 



la The Builder, 7 Nov. 1896, 'The 

 Architecture of our large Provincial 

 Towns ; Manchester.' The writer further 

 tates, ' In after years it will probably be 

 accounted one of the most excellent works 



which the iQth century has bequeathed 

 to its successors.' 



12a W. E. A. Axon, Archit, Descr. of the 

 Town Hall, 1878. 



229 



13 See the list given in the general 

 account of Manchester. 



14 Manch. Guardian N. and Q. no. 173, 

 217. 



