Manchester

Manchester landmark placed on ‘most at risk’ list by national heritage group

"As a survivor of Manchester's Victorian industrial heritage, the warehouse deserves to be protected and restored to a more secure condition."

Georgina Pellant - 4th July 2023

A Victorian landmark in Manchester city centre has been placed on a ‘most at risk’ list by a national heritage group SAVE.

Surrounded by chicken shops, bargain booze outlets, and the sticky-floored entertainment behemoth that is The Printworks complex, with its peeling paint and empty windows Withy Grove Stores Ltd. certainly gives the impression of being abandoned.

The landmark site has just been added to a list by the campaign group SAVE Britain’s Heritage, naming it as one of the country’s most at risk buildings.

SAVE has previously campaigned to rescue the Old Trafford Bowling Club pavilion, which dates from 1877 and was granted listed status last month.

Speaking on the campaign to rescue Withy Grove Stores from redevelopment, SAVE says: “You would be forgiven for thinking the building is abandoned and derelict. It sits just behind the Printworks and is known for its old metal sign “WITHY GROVE STORES” on its east elevation.

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“Today, the ground floor is currently occupied by Withy Grove Office Interiors, which specialises in safes and reconditioned office furniture but the rest of the building appears empty and in poor condition.

“The original Withy Grove Company was officially established in 1850. This was after starting life as the Richmond Safe Company (set up by John R Solomon in 1799), which supplied iron-branded and ironclad strongboxes for ships.

“The company moved to the offices seen today, in 1840, and renamed themselves Withy Grove Stores. From here the company expanded to have 3 sites in the North West – Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool. It is thought that the building and business were passed down in the same family since the Victorian era.

“The building is a lone reminder of similar industrial buildings in the street that have all since been lost. It boasts its original sash windows, a slate roof, decorative quoins and has examples of fine modillion eaves cornicing and a rare fanlight window pediment on the corner elevation. The internal condition of the building is unknown, but externally it is in a poor state of repair.

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“There appears to be salt damage to the brickwork on the upper floors, as well as foliage growing out of the shopfront on the Dantzic Street frontage. As a survivor of Manchester’s Victorian industrial heritage, the warehouse deserves to be protected and restored to a more secure condition.”

Withy Grove Stores is one of 70 new venues listed on the SAVE register, which is now in its 34th year.

Other venues to feature on the list this year include West Yorkshire’s The Mechanics Institute in Otley, Leeds, described as “a cultured and refined palazzo standing with a back-drop of Yorkshire hills.” 

Featured image – The Manc Group