A choice of images on Red Lion Street and the story of a lost church

From Red Lion Street, 2014

I am always fascinated at how a photographer chooses an image.

The best capture something about a place and time and leave you admiring the photo but also wondering about the stories that sit there.

This is Red Lion Street on the corner with Catlow Lane and we are looking at one of Andy Robertson’s pictures and instantly it drew me in.

He had been out by Church Street and “had passed lots of lovely buildings but was particularly interested in this one” and I can see why.

A sorry state

This is the rear of the place and it fronts on to Union Street.

Back at the turn of the last century it belonged to Harrison & Co who were carpet factors, and I should be able to follow its ownership back  another half century or more.

Today it is empty, and pretty forlorn.

What had once been a grand entrance is bricked up and painted over and the neglect is pretty apparent from the picture.  Some of the windows are broken, the warehouse doors look to be on their last legs and at least one window frame is in danger of collapsing.

Not a promising prospect.  But that said the building next door has been renovated and has a new purpose.

So in time and with some money so might this one.

The area in 1844

Of course a developer might just pull it down and fill the space with something new.

Now I could rail against this but this little bit of the city has constantly been pulled apart and rebuilt.

The property on the other side of our old carpet warehouse was in 1911 the Bulls’ Head and Commerical Hotel and there was a pub here as far back as 1844 and perhaps longer.

In this warren of tiny lanes and back streets there have always been those smaller enterprises whose fortunes have waxed and waned but were always central to the business life of the city.

St Paul's Church from Turner Street, date unknown

And it is important that people like Andy continue to capture the changes to an area which is often neglected.

That said of course we are on the edge of the Northern Quarter a place which once thrived, went through a pretty shabby period and has emerged as an exciting part of Manchester.

As you might expect the area has always been changing, and back in 1844 Catlow Lane was called Church Lane and continued across Red Lion Street to link with Chapel Street which ran beside St Paul’s Church.

This 18th century church faced onto Tib Street and had “an unprepossessing appearance; it is built of brick, with stone dressings, there is a tower at the west end, the top of which is entirely of stone.  

The interior is very handsomely decorated.  

There are three galleries, the pillars supporting the roof, are gilt, as well as the back of the altar, organ case, pulpit, &c.  

The church has lately been much improved by the addition of a handsome coloured window over the altar.  The choral service is performed here on Sundays at half past ten and half past six.”*

Interior of St Paul's

But it had gone by 1894 and today both this stretch of Church Lane and Chapel Street are buried under the car park.

So on the turn of a photographer’s choice of image comes a a jumbled collection of half stories with the promise of more to come.

Picture; from the collection of Andy Robertson and detail of the area in 1844 from the OS map of Manchester & Salford, 1842-44, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/ and St Paul's Church, m80323, & m80324, date unknown,courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass 

* The Strangers Guide to Manchester, The Strangers Guide to Manchester, 1850