page_title: Castlefield
section_title: Warehouses of Castlefield
hierarchical_section_title: Castlefield / Landmarks / Warehouses of Castlefield
caption_attribution_description: The Bridgewater Canal was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester. Castlefield was the Manchester basin, and it was watered by the River Medlock. In 1802 the Rochdale Canal joined here at Dukes Lock. A series of Canal Warehouses were built by the various traders. Merchants' Warehouse with Middle Warehouse behind. Camera location53°&#160;28′&#160;28.56″&#160;N, 2°&#160;15′&#160;24.12″&#160;W&#160;View this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMap - Google Earth
context_page_description: Castlefield is an inner city conservation area of Manchester in North West England. The conservation area which bears its name is bounded by the River Irwell, Quay Street, Deansgate and Chester Road. It was the site of the Roman era fort of Mamucium or Mancunium which gave its name to Manchester. It was the terminus of the Bridgewater Canal, the world's first industrial canal, built in 1764; the oldest canal warehouse opened in 1779. The world's first passenger railway terminated here in 1830, at Liverpool Road railway station and the first railway warehouse opened here in 1831.
  The Rochdale Canal met the Bridgewater Canal at Castlefield in 1805 and in the 1830s they were linked with the Mersey and Irwell Navigation by two short cuts. In 1848 the two viaducts of the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway crossed the area and joined each other, two further viaducts and one mainline station Manchester Central railway station followed. It has a tram station, Deansgate-Castlefield tram stop providing frequent Manchester Metrolink services to Eccles, Bury, Altrincham, Manchester Piccadilly, East Didsbury and Rochdale.
context_section_description: The Duke's Warehouse was built at the end Bridgewater Canal over the River Medlock. It has long since gone. It was first built in 1771, destroyed by fire in 1789 and rebuilt and extended including a fulling mill on the southern bank and cottages on the northern bank. It was destroyed again by fire in 1919. Built at the same time was the Grocers Warehouse 19.4 x 9.7m. This was a five-storey warehouse with one then two shipping holes. It was cut back into the Collyhurst sandstone river cliff face to the north of the Medlock. It was designed by James Brindley and incorporated a waterwheel driven hoist system. The canal arm was continued into a tunnel in the cliff. It was modified and extended in the first decade of the 19th century when the Rochdale canal was cut behind it. The tunnel was severed and became an arm of the Rochdale Canal. Part of the facade has been restored and the canal arms are bridged by two Dutch style lifting bridges.
  The Merchants' Warehouse (46.2 m x 15.4m) was built on the north bank at the entrance to the Giant's Basin around 1827. This was a four-storey warehouse with two shipping holes. On the street side it had six side loading bays topped by wooden catsheads (hoods). It has been badly damaged by fire but has since been rebuilt by Jim Ramsbottom and converted into offices. The other surviving warehouse is the Middle Warehouse built in 1831 by the Bridgewater Trustees on the south bank, off the Middle Basin canal arm. It was in use to store maize until the 1970s. It has been converted into a restaurant, offices and flats. It is five storeys plus an attic. The two shipping holes are enclosed in an elliptical blind arch.
  The Kenworthy Warehouse, was 19m x 47m was built in 1840 and looked like others. It was six storeys high, had twin shipping hole and was built on an arm running east of the Giant's Basin. It was designed for heavy goods: the ground floor was used for oil, the first for shipping goods, then the other floors for cotton, flour and grain. In 1897, the Great Northern Viaduct was built over it and the piers modified the canal arms.
  The Staffordshire Warehouse sat abridge the Staffordshire arms of the basin and was used to warehouse cotton.
  The New Warehouse was built on Slate Wharf before 1848, and was the largest. It was six storeys high, with 20 14 ft bays thus 280 ft (85 m) in length.
  The Victoria and Albert Warehouses are not at the basin, but at the junction of the River Irwell and the Manchester and Salford Junction Canal. This L-shaped building was built flush with the canal for direct loading, on the street side there were three loading entrances.
  Also significant is the 1830 Railway Warehouse of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. This was built with
  There was no available water to drive the hoists, so for the first year they were manual, but in 1832 they were powered by a small steam engine.
  Possibly the last of Castlefield's great warehouses was the Great Northern Warehouse of 1896 to 1898. This was a trans-shipment warehouse that had railway access on two of its floors, road access and canal arms from the Manchester and Salford Junction canal in the basement. This was one of Britain's first large steel-framed buildings (81m x 66m). There were hydraulic lifts capable of raising fully laden railway waggons between the floors. To service the building the Great Northern Viaduct was built parallel to the Cornbrook Viaduct over the basin, and over the Kenworthy Warehouse. The country's longest Victorian commercial terrace was built to mask it from Deansgate.
  Textile warehouses in the Italianate palazzo style were built in other parts of Manchester city centre, notably King Street in the 1840s spreading to Portland Street, Charlotte Street and by the start of the 20th century, Whitworth Street. In all covering over a square mile of the city centre, Manchester was called Warehouse City and arguably was the finest example of Victorian commercialism.
caption: The restored Merchants' Warehouse with the Middle Warehouse behind
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