Gladstone Buildings, Station Road, Urmston - Local Heritage List Platform

Location/Address

26 - 30 Station Rd, Urmston, Manchester M41 9JQ

Type

Building

Roofed and walled permanent structures.

Description

Located on Station Road close to Urmston old Police Station, at the entrance to Urmston town centre, 'Gladstone Buildings' is a handsome red brick building constructed in the late nineteenth century as Urmston Liberal Club. In addition to the social aspects of the building associated with the club, this also provided a permanent base and headquarters for the Liberal Party in the area

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Statement of Significance

Asset type

This asset is an attractive late nineteenth century building which adds great character to Urmston town centre.

Age

Circa 1885

Architectural and Artistic Interest

This attractive and well designed building is constructed in red Accrington style brick with two upper two storeys. An examination of the building’s frontage shows many interesting features including a Romanesque entrance, either side of which are pillars each containing a stone tablet. These latter features once held details of the date and opening of the building, which sadly are no longer visible due to stonework erosion. Above the entrance doorway is a small balcony feature which adds to the building’s attraction. Additionally, the building has many other details in its brick façade including a stone panel at second floor level which confidently communicates its name as, ‘Gladstone Buildings’. In overall terms this building appears to have been designed to make a statement about the popularity of the Liberal Party at that time, and how this was seen as an essential part of a modern and succesful Manchester suburb for the aspiring middle class of the area.

Group Value

Gladstone Buildings is a high-quality brick building sited in an important part of the high street in Urmston. The building compliments other buildings around it, including the range of shops in the immediate vicinity, the old Police Station and Gloucester House a short distance away. As such Gladstone Buildings contribute significantly to Urmston as a place.

Historic Interest

The building was constructed as a permanent base for Urmston Liberal club, showing the confidence and popularity of the movement in the late nineteenth century. The Liberal Club seems to have occupied the upper storeys, as two separate shop units were located at ground floor level, highlighting the mixed use of the building, also no doubt contributing to the costs. Over the years several different businesses have used these premises, as part of this section of Urmston high street. Additionally, emphasising its social and leisure connections, the building once had a bowling green at the rear. This fell out of use and is now the site of a small housing development accessed from nearby Royal Avenue. However, in its heyday the bowling green and other facilities provided by such an attractive building must have made this a good place to meet and spend time with friends. Further, this would have been especially attractive to the local business community who valued social interaction, but who did not favour local pubs as a means to this. The building was planned in 1883 as a replacement for an earlier Liberal Club located on Lyme Grove, Urmston, reflecting confidence in the growth of the Liberal Party at local level in the Manchester area in the latter part of the nineteenth century. In the late nineteenth century support for the Liberal Party increased especially in the Manchester area, and it is likely therefore that the development of this attractive building reflected a rising confidence of the movement, as well as the popularity of Urmston as a good place to live – especially for families who aspired to more middle-class values. The building, which is named after the Liberal Statesman and politician William Ewart Gladstone, was opened in around 1885. The stone banner containing the name of the building seems to almost act as an advertisment for the Liberal Party/club. It should be noted that both the Conservative Party and the Labour Party opened headquarters and social buildings in the area. In the case of the Labour Party, the more modest building 'Morris Hall' located on Atkinson Road, not far from Urmston Liberal Club was opened in 1911 by Keir Hardie, one of the founders of the modern labour movement. Part of this building is still the Labour Party's local headquarters. Although local historian David Smith claims Gladstone Buildings was opened by a local MP named ‘William Matherson’, this is most likely to be William Mather. Mather a Manchester businessman who created a successful engineering firm Mather and Platt, had been elected as Liberal MP for Salford in the 1885 General Election. As the new Liberal MP for Salford, Mather would have been a logical choice to celebrate the opening of a new Liberal club building in a popular area close to the centre of his constituency. After the Liberal Club moved out, the building has seen several uses. The building was sold in 2006, but still operates on the basis of mixed use with the ground floor area being used as a fitness business and the upper floors as office space for a local company. Today this building is an integral part of Urmston town centre saying much about its charcted and growth. As such it is a strong candidate for local listing.