What links Italian design, Victorian infrastructure, Japanese furnishings, high class china & glassware, discredited phrenology and rumoured subterranean tunnels?
©ManchesterLibraries
The answer lies in the iconic, Grade ll listed, Barton Arcade in Deansgate, Manchester.
To creatively explore this exemplar ‘hidden gem’ of Victorian architecture, Manchester Science Festival have commissioned Cornbrook Creative to showcase their innovative sound delivery system Sonic Pixels as an immersive, interactive audio installation within Barton Arcade – and involving three Manchester based sonic artists (we will be introducing you to them soon…)
After the success of Cornbrook Creative’s last venture, A Grand Exposition at Talbot Mill in October 2017, production for Sonic Pixels @ Barton Arcade gets underway and excitement builds.
So let us share a little history of the Barton Arcade with you, providing an insight into what our contributing artists will be responding to.
Who built it and when?
The Barton Arcade was constructed on Deansgate, Manchester in 1871. It was designed and built by Corbett, Raby and Sawyer and the decorative ironwork came from Walter Macfarlane’s Saracen foundry in Glasgow. The inspiration for the Arcade was Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, which appeared in the British architectural publication, The Builder in 1868.
There are three tiers to the U-shaped Arcade, which rises to height of 53 feet. The ground floor contains shops and showrooms, until at least 1957 there was only 12. The upper floors contain offices and also feature the same decorative ironwork and mahogany handrails. The façade of the building on Deansgate is stonework and completely hides the glass and iron building behind it. It sparked a trend for shopping arcades in Manchester with two others following the Barton Arcade in the same decade. The Victoria Arcade was built in 1875 and destroyed during the Manchester Blitz in December 1940. The New Exchange Arcade was built in 1876 and is also lost. The Barton Arcade is widely renowned as one of the best surviving examples in the country.
Who did the builders of the Barton Arcade intend to attract?
The Victorian shopping arcade was extremely popular in the late nineteenth century as it was an enclosed, dry and relatively safe space to shop in. In Manchester it would have largely appealed to middle-class female shoppers, as Deansgate did in general. Whereas Oldham Street and Tib Street catered more the large working-class communities around Manchester city centre. This is shown in a newspaper report from 1878 where a pickpocket, caught at the Barton Arcade is described as “respectably attired” so that he blends in with other clientele.
On Charles E. Goad’s Fire Insurance Map of the Arcade in 1886, there are only 11 shop units. Therefore, there must have been some competition, certainly when the Arcade first opened for retail space.
One such shop in the Arcade was Stephenson’s glass and chinaware. Henry George Stephenson moved to Manchester in 1860 and sold pottery at the Salford Flat Iron Market. The business moved to Barton Arcade as soon as it opened and remained there until 1967,after some 96 years of service. The company was well-renowned and one employee, Miss Anne Smith started work for the company in 1919 at the age of 14 and did not retire until she was 84 (70 years of service!)
Stephenson’s sold famous high-end brands such as Doulton, Wedgwood, Aynsley, Woods, Maddocks & Thomas Webb Crystal, alongside pottery from Limoges, France. In the 1943 Stephenson’s closed for the rest of the duration of WWII. Although Barton Arcade was not directly bombed during the war it suffered from blast damage. This must have caused sufficient damaged and posed such a threat for businesses to close.
Another business was Herr Cohen, the phrenologist based at the Arcade between 1888-1890. He promised to tell parents about their children’s futures.
Blog post by Michele Selway
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