Post Office

Details

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1033/0/10035

TRINITY STREET
Post Office

(Formerly listed as Post Office, TRINITY ROAD)

19-JUL-01

GV
II

Stalybridge General Post Office was built between 1899-1900 by Her Majesty’s Office of Works. The architect was William Oldrieve, who designed numerous post offices in the United Kingdom in this period. The foundation stone was laid on 14 October 1899 and the building opened on the 3rd March 1902. In 1881 Stalybridge was granted consent from Parliament to increase the size of the town by incorporating the villages of Millbrook, Heyrod and Carrbrook within its boundaries. The east side of Stalybridge grew rapidly at the end of the C19, and prominent local mill owner, philanthropist, and politician, John Cheetham provided the impetus for the development of Trinity Street, widening the road to accommodate the new public library which he financed. Along with the town hall, war memorial, library and market, the Post Office contributed to the creation of a new civic centre for the town.

Stalybridge Post Office is an L-shaped building of two-storeys plus basement and attics. It is designed in Renaissance Revival style with later C20 additions, and is built of ashlar and red brick with plain tile roofs. There is an office range to the front and a sorting office and service range to the rear. The building has a plinth, sill band, intermediate and eaves cornices, coped gables and parapets. The main windows have stone mullions and transoms.

The front elevation is of three-bays and has a slightly projecting central bay with a three-light window flanked by single lights, and a small segmental-arched door below the right light. Between the floors there is an enriched cartouche reading ‘POST OFFICE’ with the royal monogram ‘VR’. To the first floor, is similar fenestration, but the second floor has a three-light window in a formal surround with cornice, broken segmental pediment and finial.

The side bays have, to the left; a doorcase with pilasters, a bracketed cornice and finials, containing a door in a rusticated round-arched surround, with a fanlight. The right bay has a round-arched doorway with a hood on brackets, and C20 glazed doors with a fanlight. Above each side bay has a stone mullioned and transomed window and the attics have shouldered pedimented dormers with two-light casements.

The north elevation of the building has a gable with three windows to the ground and first floors. The central window in the two upper floors are flanked by pilasters. The second floor window has a round pediment with the royal monogram.

At the rear of the building (east) is a single-storey sorting office with a basement, eight windows and a lantern roof behind a parapet, topped with a tent-roofed ventilator. Behind this is a boiler house and service wing, also of a single storey with a basement and a lantern roof. This is of two bays, one of which has segment arched windows.

The interior of the front office has egg-and-dart cornices to the ceiling, cross beams and single pilasters. The counters and screen date from the late C20. The first-floor offices have cornices and original doors. The basement has a strong room with a steel door. The sorting office has a steel truss roof with tie rods and numerous wall ventilators.


Listing NGR: SJ9637298527

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

487994

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

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