A Victorian shop building in the Northern Quarter has been added to a list which recognises buildings across the country most at risk of demolition or dereliction.
Withy Grove Stores, near the Printworks, is one of nearly 70 properties to be added to the Buildings at Risk register. Now in its 34th year, the list, from SAVE Britain's Heritage, features more than 1,400 buildings nationwide in threat.
The Northern Quarter building dates as far back as 1840 when the Richmond Safe Company, which supplied iron strongboxes and safes to ship captains docked in Liverpool, moved into the premises and was renamed as Withy Grove Stores.
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The company continued to sell safes and office furniture from the Northern Quarter building under the watch of brothers John and Eli Solomon for more than 130 years until a disagreement led them to separately take ownership of the building, alongside other sites in Leeds and London.
But the building continues to remain in the Solomon family name today with Brian Solomon and Anthony Solomon, running the Withy Grove Stores on the ground floor as a commercial, industrial and residential safe shop.
SAVE says Withy Grove Stores remains the only existing Victorian industrial and commercial building on Withy Grove, which is why it has been featured in its recent At Risk listing.
A SAVE spokesperson said: “Withy Grove Stores looks largely abandoned and derelict, although the ground floor is occupied. The family business has been here since 1840.
“Fine architectural detailing mark the building out but it is the only survivor of the other Victorian industrial and commercial buildings on this street that have been lost. Highly functional, this distinctive and handsome building could be turned to a mix of uses.”
Other buildings to be added this year include the Carlisle Turkish Baths, Tynemouth Library, the Highfield Cocoa & Coffee House in Sheffield, the Hydraulic Tower And Pump House in East Yorkshire, and Dudley Hippodrome in the West Midlands.
“SAVE Britain's Heritage has added nearly 70 new entries to the Buildings at Risk register, bringing the total number of empty historic buildings at risk of demolition or dereliction on the register to over 1,400,” a spokesperson for the organisation added.
“SAVE's Buildings at Risk register is in its 34th year and exists to bring disused historic buildings of all ages which could be repurposed to national attention. Nominated by our supporters, local campaigners, conservation officers and other heritage professionals, these are places that matter to us all and deserve wider recognition.
“The register is a national platform for raising awareness of neglected historic buildings and advocating their reuse as a means to ensure their survival. At a time when this is high on the nation's agenda, finding sustainable new uses for historic buildings could not be more important.”
