Altrincham - 1-5 The Downs

The Downs refers to both an area in central Altrincham and one of its oldest roads, which runs from the Bowdon ridge to Altrincham. The building at numbers 1-5 The Downs is prominently located at the intersection of Railway Street, The Downs and Ashley Road. It is best known for housing banks, first the Union Bank, and later Barclays Bank. Today, the building accommodates various businesses and offices.

The earliest buildings in this area were small cottages, likely built at the end of the 18^th century. Although Altrincham became well connected to Manchester following the construction of the Bridgewater Canal in 1765, the introduction of train and tram services truly transformed the area.

The Downs lost its rural character after regular train services started in 1849, which attracted merchants and tradespeople from Manchester who wanted to escape the city's noise. As a result, rural landmarks were quickly replaced by elegant villas and terraces. Many houses were initially constructed by builders and developers as rental properties.

Since becoming a transport hub for trains, horse cabs, and later trams, The Downs also became an ideal location for shops and businesses. The first horse-drawn carriages that operated regularly between Manchester and Altrincham started in the late 1870s and continued well into the era of electric trams.

The first electric tramcar made an inspection journey to Altrincham on April 30, 1907, with regular service commencing nine days later. The tram terminus, and previously the cab stand, was situated in front of 1-5 The Downs, which often appears in the background of photographs featuring the horse carriages and tramcars.

Historical street directories, photographs, and Ordnance Survey maps provide information about the various uses of the building over the years and illustrate how quickly the area developed after the arrival of the railway.

It soon featured diverse shops, including butchers, chemists, tobacconists, confectioners, watchmakers, fishmongers, and grocery and stationery stores. You could also have a suit or shoes made, get clothes cleaned, and open a bank account. By around 1876, the cottages at 1-5 The Downs had also been replaced with a large building housing shops and businesses.

The 1852 Local Board of Health plan for Altrincham shows three separate plots where 1-5 The Downs is located today. A ledger known as The Altrincham Survey, Book of Reference 1852, indicates that the Trustees of the late Isaac Harrop owned them.

The earliest Ordnance Survey map that shows a large rectangular building at 1-5 The Downs was drawn in 1876. Later maps from 1908 onwards illustrate how the building gradually extended to the side of The Downs.

The first instance when a shop owner's name can be associated with the building dates to the 1870s. A book published in 1897, which describes the trades in Altrincham, notes that Mr. Sydney Brookfield owned a shop at Ashley Road and 1 The Downs from 1876 onwards. The book also states that in 1877 he partnered with Mr. J. D. Wilson, and that they established a business at Sydney’s existing premises.

Their partnership ended in 1888, after which Sydney Brookfield operated the shop independently. The book describes his shop as having excellent accommodation, measuring 60 feet by 30 feet at the widest point, with stock and showrooms upstairs.

A contemporary advertisement from the 1890s provides the first visual evidence of the building’s appearance. At that time, the building extended to both sides of the junction and featured four floors. The advertisement presents Sydney Brookfield as a general draper, hosier and glover and a gentleman’s outfitter.

Historical street directories, electoral registers and census records provide more details about the owners and occupiers of the building. Sydney Brookfield’s name first appears on the electoral registers as the occupier of a house and shop at Ashley Road in 1878. Later, the building’s address was recorded as 1 The Downs.

The records also reveal that Sydney acquired a new dwelling house in Hale in the early 1880s. Census records from 1881, 1891, and 1901 indicate that he and his family lived at Thorn Lea on Hale Road. Still, the electoral registers continued to list Sydney as an occupier of a house and shop at 1 The Downs until the late 1880s and as a shop owner until 1903.

Sydney Brookfield did not continue to occupy the entire building by himself. From the late 1880s, other professionals such as photographers began to establish their businesses there as tenants.

The first photographic studio at 1-5 The Downs was owned by Decimus Shoosmith, who opened his studio at the top of the building at 3 The Downs in 1886. According to commercial and street directories, Timperley W. Fallows took over the studio in 1890, followed by Harry Walker in 1894.

Augustus Parsons took over the studio in 1900. Trafford Local Studies Centre holds a collection of portraits taken by him (LHC/1894/2/1/15). Augustus Parsons operated his studio at 3 The Downs until 1909.

According to electoral registers and street directories, George Wright & Sons occupied 5 The Downs as tenants from 1899 onwards. They operated their dyers' business at the address until 1913, when the milliners Misses Nellie and Lillian Mawson took over the premises.

In 1903, the Union Bank of Manchester acquired the premises of Sydney Brookfield at 1-5 The Downs. This acquisition provides the first detailed evidence of the building’s floor plans. The building plans from 1903, now archived in the Historical Building Plan Collection at the Trafford Local Studies Centre, provide a survey of the new premises, noting that Mr. S. Brookfield previously occupied them. The plans were created by the Manchester architect, William Owen (1852-1909).

The elevation plans indicate that the arrangement of the windows is identical to that of Sydney Brookfield’s premises in the 1890s, with the only notable difference being the design of the front door and the decorative details of the ground floor windows.

According to the floor plans, the shape of the building is still almost rectangular, with a small extension featuring three narrow arched windows on the ground floor facing The Downs. The front of the building, with two wide arched windows and the main entrance on the ground floor, faces the intersection.

The building extends further along the side of Ashley Road, where there are six narrow arched windows, a side door, and two wide arched windows on the ground floor.

The floor plans detail the arrangement of rooms across four levels, from the basement to the second floor.

The basement includes a large paint shop, wash cellar, toilets, coal and boiler rooms and storage. On the ground floor, which housed the bank's premises, there is a counter room with a safe at the front and clerks’ and managers’ desks at the back. The ground floor also had a large room for lock-up shops. The first floor contains a large room at the front of the building and a smaller room, a kitchen and lavatories facing Ashley Road. The second floor comprises three bedrooms, a sitting room and a bathroom.

While the plans do not specify the uses of the rooms, it is likely that the second floor served as the photographic studios mentioned above, operated by Augustus Parsons from 1900 to 1909. The paint room in the basement could have been part of the premises rented by George Wright & Sons, who occupied 5 The Downs as tenants from 1899 until 1913.

The Trafford Local Studies Centre's Historical Building Plan Collection also contains additional plans for the building, created in 1930 and approved in 1931. These designs are attributed to Earle Estate Office Limited, and they show that the building was extended further along The Downs.

The new designs feature both existing and proposed elevation plans and indicate that the old arched windows on the side facing Railway Street were replaced with four rectangular windows. Also, the old arched door top was replaced with a flat beam. However, the three arched windows remained further along The Downs.

On the side facing Ashley Road, the design of the ground floor windows was also updated, with all front-facing windows now rectangular. The front of the building facing Railway Street was also modified, with a tall and more decorative entrance door, and a round window replacing one of the second-floor windows.

The floor plans outline the existing and proposed designs for the building's interiors. In 1930, the basement consisted of cellars, but the new plans propose additional walls, a secure strong room, and a voucher room. On the ground floor, the proposed changes include additional desks, and the former sweet shop on Ashley Road to be converted into the manager's office.

The existing cobbler's shop at the back of the building on Ashley Road appears on both plans, along with the milliner's shop on the Downs side of the building. The first-floor layout in the proposed plans remains largely unchanged, featuring offices, a workroom, a kitchen, and lavatories.

Similarly, the second floor has only minor modifications, such as converting a former kitchen into a bedroom. Additionally, the design and function of the third floor remain unchanged, continuing to serve as office space.

The appearance of the building has changed very little since the 1930s. According to the description provided by the Local Heritage List Platform, the ground floor facade is painted and constructed from Portland stone. The upper storeys are made of cream bricks featuring decorative details such as horizontal bands and arched lintels crafted from red bricks, and keystones over the arched windows.

Additional decorative elements include red brick corbels beneath the roof structure and ornate stone borders on dormers of the top floor. The carved decorations above the entrance door, made from Portland stone, were present in the building plans from the 1930s. However, the round window on the first floor has been replaced with an ornate clock.

Today, 1-5 The Downs is located within The Downs Conservation Area, which was designated in 1973 and extended in 1974 and 1988. As a result, many buildings in this area are subject to additional planning controls due to their unique architectural or historic significance. 1-5 The Downs continues to house various businesses and offices, located prominently in the heart of Altrincham.

Further Research

You can find more building plans and archival records using the Trafford Local Studies catalogue

Sources

Photos:

Trafford Local Studies cat. ref. TL/0387, TL/3501, TP/12343, TP/3503 and LHC/1894/2/1/15.

Maps:

OS, Cheshire Sheet XVIII.6.12, surveyed 1872-1876, published 1878.

OS, Cheshire XVIII.6, revised 1897, published 1898.

OS, Cheshire XVIII.6, revised 1908, published 1910.

OS, Cheshire XVIII.6, revised 1936-37, published 1938.

Township of Altrincham surveyed for the purposes of the Local Board of Health 1852, Trafford Local Studies collection, cat. ref. ALT/9/1/1/4 and ALT/9/1/1/6

Building Plans:

Union Bank, 1 The Downs, Altrincham, Trafford Local Studies collection, cat. ref. PLA/2/ALT/1903/2/103

The Union Bank, 1 The Downs, Altrincham, Trafford Local Studies collection, cat. ref. PLA/2/ALT/1931/2/1446

Books and Booklets:

Around Town – Altrincham & Bowdon. Trafford Planning Department: County Offset Ltd. Photographs reproduced by Gask & Hawley.

Bayliss, Hilda 1996. Altrincham. A Pictorial History. Chichester: Phillimore & CO. LTD.

Dickens, Steven 2016. Altrincham Through Time. Gloucestershire: Amberley Publishing.

Kemp, Peter 1984 (Revision 2013). Higher Downs, Altrincham, Bowdon History Society.

Southern, Pat 2002. Altrincham. An Illustrated History. Derby: Breedon Books Publishing.

Southern, Patricia 2008. The Story of Altrincham. Gloucestershire: Amberley Publishing.

Rendell, Douglas 2006. Photographers in the Altrincham Area. Hale: Ackroyd Preston Limited.

The Town and Trade of Altrincham, 1897, Altrincham: Mackie & Co Ltd.

Directories and Registers:

Kelly's Street Directories of Cheshire.

Slater's Directories of Altrincham and Bowdon.

Slater's Royal National Commercial Directories of Cheshire - Altrincham.

Census Records and Electoral Registers via Find My Past.

Webpages:

Altrincham Heritage

Landmark building on The Downs sold for £725,000 - Altrincham Today

UPDATED The Downs CAA.pdf

1-5 The Downs - Local Heritage List Platform

William Owen - Architect | Architects of Greater Manchester