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Watson Street, MANCHESTER, M3 4EE

The Great Northern shopping centre off Deansgate, Manchester. The building's original function is indelibly outlined in 19th century brickwork.

A view from Peter Street, across Manchester's Great Northern Square. The Great Northern Warehouse and its environs was historically a transport interchange for the massive volume of goods arriving by rail at Central Station - now Manchester Central - in Manchester. As part of the redevelopment of the area in the late 1990s, buildings at the Peter Street end of Deansgate were cleared to open up the site and create the Great Northern Square. This elegant landscaped public square was Manchester's first purpose-built public square to be created since the Second World War. To the right, is The Great Northern Warehouse, the grade II* listed building (Historic England List entry Number: 1268529 https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1268529 ) which was built above the Manchester and Salford Junction Canal; a dock beneath was constructed to allow goods to be transferred to and from canal barges via shafts and a complex system of haulage using hydraulic power. According to Historic England, the warehouse is a "unique survival of a three-way railway goods exchange station, serving the railway, canal and road networks of the Manchester region”. Once a neglected Victorian landmark, the “Great Northern” has now been converted into a leisure and shopping development with bars, cafes and restaurants set in (http://www.thegreatnorthern.com/ for more information). In contrast to the Victorian warehouse, the Great Northern Tower, at the far end of the square, is a modern development built between 2004 and 2006. This residential tower building which is clad in glass, steel and grey tiles is characterised by its dramatic slope. The 25-storey tower on the corner of Watson and Wilson Streets houses 80 apartments whilst there are a further 177 apartments in the lower component of the building, which starts at 10 storeys high and runs up towards the tower. This lower block runs along Watson Street, directly opposite the Great Northern Warehouse (http://manchesterhistory.net/architecture/2000/greatnorthern.html Manchester History Net).

At the back of the Great Northern Warehouse Image connecting Great Northern Square Image with Great Bridgewater Street.

The warehouse was built to be fireproof with a steel frame on a rectangular plan, 267 feet long by 217 feet wide and five storeys high, with 27 windows on the east and west sides and 17 windows on the north and south ends. All four sides have friezes lettered in white brick reading "Great Northern Railway Company's Goods Warehouse". 25 million bricks, 50,000 tons of concrete, 12,000 tons of mild steel and 65 miles of rivets were used in its construction in 1885

Looking towards the city centre from the Cloud 23 bar on the 23rd floor of the Beetham Tower (Hilton Hotel). The large building in the foreground is "The Edge" http://www.theedgemanchester.com/ . Behind it, and to the left is the tower of the Arndale Centre (SJ 840 985) whilst to the right is the Town Hall and its extension in Albert Square (SJ 838 981)

The Great Northern is a former railway goods shed in central Manchester. It has now been converted a shopping and leisure complex.

The Great Northern Warehouse is the former railway goods warehouse of the Great Northern Railway. Since this picture was taken it has been redeveloped as a retail and leisure complex.

The Great Northern is the former railway goods warehouse of the Great Northern Railway in Manchester city centre; all four sides have friezes lettered in white brick reading "Great Northern Railway Company's Goods Warehouse". It was granted Grade II* listed building status in 1974 (List entry Number: 1268529 https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1268529 Historic England). It was refurbished into a leisure complex in 1999. The development is owned by Capital & Regional and comprises an AMC cinema, MCR235 casino, James Martin Manchester restaurant, All Star Lanes bowling alley, bar and restaurant, a Lifestyle Fitness gym, and a multi-storey car park operated by National Car Parks.

Ron Hann (Image) wonders what this old Warehouse building is, now? Well, it's a leisure and shopping complex.