Now you know a place is on the skids, when all the not so smart entry devices seem broken.
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| Admitting no one, 2021 |
These are from the entrance to Hotspur House, on Cambridge Street which is better known as the Hotspur Press.
My copy of Pevsner refers to it as "Medlock Mill, circa 1811 on the N bank of the Medlock. A range of 19thcentury offices fronts and follows the curve of the road , and the converted mill (Hotspur Press) rises behind. Cast iron columns and timber beams , the variety of column types suggesting successive alterations, but the full story is difficult to divine from what little can be seen behind the partitions and false ceilings”.*
The OS map for Manchester and Salford in 1849 shows a footbridge running south from the mill over the Medlock allowing access to the Cambridge Street Works, while behind was the Manchester Gas Works which at the time boasted six gasometers of varying size.
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| Medlock Mills, 1849 |
And dotted around the Medlock Mill were a series of other textile mills and dye works.
Most people will know the building as the home of Percy Brothers and the Hotspur Press.
Which brings me back to those entry devices, and the future of the building.
Back in 2018 there was a lot of interest in plans to redevelop the site, which would have involved a 28-story tower block, the conversion of some of the former mill in to “170 apartments, shops, offices, restaurants and potentially a gym, bowling alley or medical centre” along with the demolition of part of the building”.**
There was opposition to the plan, both on grounds of the size of the tower block and the demolition of part of the mill.
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| The Hotspur Press, 2017 |
It would appear that planning permission was approved in December of 2018.***
But I seem to be missing something because just over three years later there seems to be no development, and and according to the City’s planning portal permission was granted in October 2020.****
So perhaps things will soon begin to move.
As ever a trawl of the planning documents offers the Archaeological Assessment of the site by the University of Salford, which like all such reports is a fascinating document revealing much about the building and the surrounding site.*****
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| The Medlock, 2021 |
And along with details of the development of the area are the names of the mill owners which will lead me off through the dusty archives of the rate books and lead to some interesting discoveries.
So that is pretty much it, no doubt in the near future those entry devices will be thrown into a skip and with the completion of the development residents will stare down at the passage of the Medlock.
Location; Chorlton-on-Medlock
Pictures; Around Cambridge Street, 2017-2021, from the collection of Andy Robertson, and the Medlock Mill , 1849, from the OS map of Manchester & salford, 1849, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, https://digitalarchives.co.uk/
*Cambridge Street, Manchester, Clare Hartwell, Pevsner Architectural Guides, Penguin Books, 2001 page 318
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| The Hotspur Press, already surrounded by developments |
**Some of the Hotspur Press could be demolished despite warnings from conservationists, Jennifer Williams, December 10, 2018, Manchester Evening News, https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/manchester-hotspur-press-city-centre-15520203
***Manchester’s Hotspur Press Plans Given The Green Light, mcr Property Group, https://www.mcrproperty.com/2018/12/14/manchesters-hotspur-press-plans-given-green-light/
****120635/FO/2018 | Hotspur Press 2 Gloucester Street Manchester M1 5QR, Manchester City Council Planning Portal, https://pa.manchester.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=PBP6U6BC03O00
*****Hotspur Press, Archaeological Desk Based Assessment, Ian Miller, Report 2013/33 University of Salford Manchester, https://pa.manchester.gov.uk/online-applications/files/578C61E347E26EBEB06F969C8D3983AD/pdf/120635_FO_2018-ARCHAEOLOGICAL_ASSESSMENT-941351.pdf
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