19–21 Sankey Street, Warrington
Encyclopedia
19–21 Sankey Street is a shop in Warrington
, Cheshire
, England. It has been designated by English Heritage
as a Grade II listed building.
architect John Douglas
and was one of his earliest works. It was constructed in 1864 as the showrooms for the furniture makers Robert Garrett and Sons, whose factory was directly behind the shop. The original shop front has been replaced by one of more modern design. In 1999 the building was occupied by a Woolworth's
shop.
style. As originally built, the ground floor consisted of carved stone piers and arcading. The remaining upper storeys are constructed in red sandstone with dressings of lighter-coloured stone. The middle storey contains one three-light and three two-light windows. Over each light is a pointed arch supported by a free-standing polished granite
column
. The voussoir
s over each arch consist of stones of alternating red and a lighter colour. The top storey has four two-light windows, similar to those in the middle storey, but simpler in design. Between the two storeys is a carved frieze
. Along the top of the frontage is a elaborate corbel
led cornice
.
, was of the opinion that the design of the building was influenced by the writings of John Ruskin
and George Gilbert Scott
, particularly in the use of polychromy
. He considered that it was "in its way one of the best thing he [Douglas] ever did, and it would be difficult to better it as an example of mid-Victorian
street architecture". The authors of the Buildings of England
series state that it has "a High Victorian Gothic façade of the most refined kind", and consider that it is one of Douglas' "very best works".
Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, England. It has been designated by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as a Grade II listed building.
History
The building was designed by the ChesterChester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
architect John Douglas
John Douglas (architect)
John Douglas was an English architect who designed about 500 buildings in Cheshire, North Wales, and northwest England, in particular in the estate of Eaton Hall. He was trained in Lancaster and practised throughout his career from an office in Chester, Cheshire...
and was one of his earliest works. It was constructed in 1864 as the showrooms for the furniture makers Robert Garrett and Sons, whose factory was directly behind the shop. The original shop front has been replaced by one of more modern design. In 1999 the building was occupied by a Woolworth's
Woolworths Group
Woolworths Group plc was a listed British company that owned the high-street retail chain, Woolworths, as well as other brands such as the entertainment distributor Entertainment UK and book and resource distributor Bertram Books...
shop.
Structure
The building has three storeys and is in Gothic RevivalGothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
style. As originally built, the ground floor consisted of carved stone piers and arcading. The remaining upper storeys are constructed in red sandstone with dressings of lighter-coloured stone. The middle storey contains one three-light and three two-light windows. Over each light is a pointed arch supported by a free-standing polished granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
column
Column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...
. The voussoir
Voussoir
A voussoir is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, used in building an arch or vault.Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. The keystone is the center stone or masonry unit at the apex of an arch. A...
s over each arch consist of stones of alternating red and a lighter colour. The top storey has four two-light windows, similar to those in the middle storey, but simpler in design. Between the two storeys is a carved frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
. Along the top of the frontage is a elaborate corbel
Corbel
In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
led cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
.
Critique
Douglas' biographer, Edward HubbardEdward Hubbard
Edward Horton Hubbard was an English architectural historian who worked with Nikolaus Pevsner in compiling volumes of the Buildings of England...
, was of the opinion that the design of the building was influenced by the writings of John Ruskin
John Ruskin
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
and George Gilbert Scott
George Gilbert Scott
Sir George Gilbert Scott was an English architect of the Victorian Age, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches, cathedrals and workhouses...
, particularly in the use of polychromy
Polychrome
Polychrome is one of the terms used to describe the use of multiple colors in one entity. It has also been defined as "The practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." Polychromatic light is composed of a number of different wavelengths...
. He considered that it was "in its way one of the best thing he [Douglas] ever did, and it would be difficult to better it as an example of mid-Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
street architecture". The authors of the Buildings of England
Pevsner Architectural Guides
The Pevsner Architectural Guides are a series of guide books to the architecture of the British Isles. Begun in the 1940s by art historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, the 46 volumes of the Buildings of England series were published between 1951 and 1975. The series was then extended to Scotland and...
series state that it has "a High Victorian Gothic façade of the most refined kind", and consider that it is one of Douglas' "very best works".