Now for obvious reasons, descriptions of the interiors of our 19th century city centre warehouses are thin on the ground.
The architectural plans will have long ago been thrown away, while professional photographers preferred recording the exterior of buildings, along with street views, leaving only those who toiled in the properties, and they were far too busy to have set down their thoughts.
And now most of those warehouses have gone, some because they reached the end of their useful life, others succumbed to Mr. Hitler’s bombs, leaving what was left at the mercy of the planners and their grandiose redevelopment schemes.
And so, it was with Mr. Shevloff’s warehouse which will date back to at least the middle of the 19th century.
It finally went with the clearance of that maze of streets, squares and courts which were bounded by Cannon Street to the north, High Street to the east, and Market to the south with Corporation Street on the west.
It was a victim of the desire for a modern looking commercial and retail area, which was to become the Arndale Centre.
Of all those buildings across that area, I have become interested in just one, which was no. 44 Cannon Street.
In its final days, it was home to the Shevloff family's textile business.
They had been trading in various locations since the early 1920s.
I was first drawn to them while researching their family home in Chorlton, and as you do, I adopted them, which led to a series of blog stories.
These sparked off memories from people who bought materials from Mr. Shevloff, and yesterday from someone who worked there.
Stephen Davis, “worked at Shevloffs in 1966 as a school holiday job. [and] well remember Mr. Shevloff Sr whose son Mr. Lander was by then the MD.
I remember the unmodernised warehouses in the Victorian court behind the building that we used for storage.
It also housed a small business making watch glasses or something like that.
The main wholesale warehouse had four floors with a manager on each.
Mr. Lander’s son, who was at school with me, became a successful restauranteur in Soho”.
Stephen’s description complements the records from Goad’s Fire Insurance maps, which are an invaluable source for the details of buildings across the city.
They were compiled during the last decades of the 19th century and revised during the early years of the next century.
The buildings are coloured coded as to use, show the materials used in the construction, as well as the number of floors and features like skylights, windows and doorways, as well as hoist and crane doors.
And because the emphasis was on security from fire, party walls were highlighted as were the materials used in the construction of roofs, with reference to slate, tile, metal, cement and felt with tar.
The detail is quite striking, extending to the width of streets, reflecting concerns about how a fire could spread.
So, we can see that nu. 44 was a given over to wholesale and factory use, with glass skylights, and backed on to Marsden Court.
All of which fits the historical records which shows that it was a shirt manufactures at the start of the 20th century, and continued the link with textiles during its occupation by Mr. Shevloff’s business.
Together they offer up a wonderful insight into one building which was typical of the area and which vanished with the Arndale.
But that is not quite the end because the area was also home to a collection of pubs and clubs some of which feature in police reports.
Happily, the Wishing Well which was two doors down was bit more reputable and popular, and according to Stephen a place he visited, along with the legendary Twisted Wheel, Oasis ad Time and Place.
And I shall leave the last word to Stephen who reflected that the year he worked at Shevloff’s was “the year we won the World Cup and I think the Brazilian team trained in the Manchester area.
One of the managers managed to get a Brazilian team sticker for his car (no merchandising in those days) which he felt set him apart somehow.
The destruction of the whole area for the Arndale upset me considerably and influenced me to become very involved in conservation for the rest of my life”*
Location Cannon Street, Manchester
Pictures; Cannon Street, 1951, from the OS map of Manchester, 1951, the three properties, 1967, "Courtesy of Manchester Archives+ Town Hall Photographers' Collection",
https://www.flickr.com/photos/manchesterarchiveplus/albums/72157684413651581?fbclid=IwAR35NR9v6lzJfkiSsHgHdQyL2CCuQUHuCuVr8xnd403q534MNgY5g1nAZfY, and no. 44 Cannon Street, circa 1900, from Goad’s Fire Insurance Map, circa 1900, Courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/
*With thanks to Stephen Davis
 |
| Mr. Shevloff's warehouse, 1967 |
And now most of those warehouses have gone, some because they reached the end of their useful life, others succumbed to Mr. Hitler’s bombs, leaving what was left at the mercy of the planners and their grandiose redevelopment schemes.
And so, it was with Mr. Shevloff’s warehouse which will date back to at least the middle of the 19th century.
It finally went with the clearance of that maze of streets, squares and courts which were bounded by Cannon Street to the north, High Street to the east, and Market to the south with Corporation Street on the west.
 |
| Streets, squares, and courts, 1951 |
In its final days, it was home to the Shevloff family's textile business.
They had been trading in various locations since the early 1920s.
I was first drawn to them while researching their family home in Chorlton, and as you do, I adopted them, which led to a series of blog stories.
These sparked off memories from people who bought materials from Mr. Shevloff, and yesterday from someone who worked there.
Stephen Davis, “worked at Shevloffs in 1966 as a school holiday job. [and] well remember Mr. Shevloff Sr whose son Mr. Lander was by then the MD.
I remember the unmodernised warehouses in the Victorian court behind the building that we used for storage.
The main wholesale warehouse had four floors with a manager on each.
Mr. Lander’s son, who was at school with me, became a successful restauranteur in Soho”.
Stephen’s description complements the records from Goad’s Fire Insurance maps, which are an invaluable source for the details of buildings across the city.
 |
| No. 44 Cannon Street, circa 1900 |
They were compiled during the last decades of the 19th century and revised during the early years of the next century.
The buildings are coloured coded as to use, show the materials used in the construction, as well as the number of floors and features like skylights, windows and doorways, as well as hoist and crane doors.
And because the emphasis was on security from fire, party walls were highlighted as were the materials used in the construction of roofs, with reference to slate, tile, metal, cement and felt with tar.
 |
| 44 and 50, Cannon Street, 1967 |
So, we can see that nu. 44 was a given over to wholesale and factory use, with glass skylights, and backed on to Marsden Court.
All of which fits the historical records which shows that it was a shirt manufactures at the start of the 20th century, and continued the link with textiles during its occupation by Mr. Shevloff’s business.
Together they offer up a wonderful insight into one building which was typical of the area and which vanished with the Arndale.
But that is not quite the end because the area was also home to a collection of pubs and clubs some of which feature in police reports.
 |
| The Wishing Well, 1967 |
And I shall leave the last word to Stephen who reflected that the year he worked at Shevloff’s was “the year we won the World Cup and I think the Brazilian team trained in the Manchester area.
One of the managers managed to get a Brazilian team sticker for his car (no merchandising in those days) which he felt set him apart somehow.
The destruction of the whole area for the Arndale upset me considerably and influenced me to become very involved in conservation for the rest of my life”*
Location Cannon Street, Manchester
Pictures; Cannon Street, 1951, from the OS map of Manchester, 1951, the three properties, 1967, "Courtesy of Manchester Archives+ Town Hall Photographers' Collection",
https://www.flickr.com/photos/manchesterarchiveplus/albums/72157684413651581?fbclid=IwAR35NR9v6lzJfkiSsHgHdQyL2CCuQUHuCuVr8xnd403q534MNgY5g1nAZfY, and no. 44 Cannon Street, circa 1900, from Goad’s Fire Insurance Map, circa 1900, Courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/
*With thanks to Stephen Davis
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