Shelter on Queen's Promenade, Blackpool

Summary

Cast-iron promenade shelter of around 1910, relocated in the 1930s, with later alterations, by Walter MacFarlane and Co of the Saracen Foundry, Glasgow.

Reasons for Designation

The shelter to the west of Queen’s Promenade, Blackpool, opposite Haddon Road, a promenade shelter of around 1910, relocated in the 1930s and with later alterations, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* an increasingly-rare survival of a good-quality Edwardian street shelter, particularly redolent of the seaside, and retaining many of its original design features.

Group value:

* as one of a chain of ten listed shelters of three similar types and dates, between Wolverton Avenue and Norkeed Road.

History

Blackpool Corporation commissioned a number of promenade shelters during 1903 and 1904, which were manufactured by Walter MacFarlane and Company (MacFarlanes) of Glasgow, and the Lion Foundry Company (Lions) of Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow. Twelve of those shelters are listed (under nine National Heritage List for England – NHLE – entries: 1072013, 1072012, 1205804, 1362392, 1280483, 1475121, 1476005, 1476006 and 1476007).

Although its roof is similar in form to the Lions shelters, the brackets of this shelter exactly match those of the eight listed MacFarlanes shelters in Blackpool of 1903 and 1904. The cast-iron dado plates also have identical decoration to a former tram shelter known to be by MacFarlanes probably dating from the late 1920s, which was formerly at the Pleasure Beach, then Cleveleys Mere and is now in a private garden in Dover. The same panels are found on the listed shelter (of slightly different type) on Elms Vale Road in Dover (NHLE 1070298). The design of this shelter suggests it dates from before the First World War, and manufactured by MacFarlanes.

A shelter is first marked in this location on the 1:2,500 Ordnance Survey (OS) map of 1946 (surveyed in 1938 to 1939), being installed since the 1930 to 1931 survey for the 1932 map; its earlier location is not known. The shelter has a replacement roof covering (thought to be tin). Some gutters are missing in the north-west corner, and some brackets are partially or wholly missing on the north-east and south-east corners. Boarding has been applied over some of the glazing screens; all glazing is absent. The benches are non-original and not included.

Walter MacFarlane and Company were one of the most prolific suppliers of architectural ironwork in the world, operating from 1851 to 1967 out of ‘Saracen Foundry’ (in three successive locations). In 1875 the foundry covered 80 acres and employed over 1,400 people. Over 80 cast-iron listed structures in England are attributed to them, including telephone kiosks, sewage ventilator shafts, lamp posts, drinking fountains, urinals and bandstands. More listed examples of their work are known but unattributed, and the true number is probably several hundred.

Details

Promenade shelter, probably pre-1914, relocated between 1931 and 1938, by Walter MacFarlane and Co of the Saracen foundry, Glasgow.

MATERIALS: cast-iron columns, brackets, roof beams, gutters and dado panels, with wooden screens, and tin-covered roof.

DESCRIPTION: of rectangular plan, with slim columns at the corners, linked by screens at each end, and with an axial screen aligned north-south. The round columns have plain capitals and each has two foliate brackets (only projecting outboard of the column, two missing) in open arabesque pattern, supporting the roof beams. The swept roof has a spine roll-ridge. Ogee gutters are mounted on plain fascias. The screens have a dado with a rectangular decorative panel, and (now unglazed) upper glazing panels, partially boarded with plywood.

The brackets match design type 39 on p644 of a MacFarlanes catalogue of approximately 1890.

Sources

Websites
Walter Macfarlane & Co, 'Illustrated Catalogue of Macfarlane's Castings', Vol 2, 6th edition (c1890), pp397-696., accessed 05/03/21 from https://archive.org/details/waltermacfarlaneco.vol21890s/
Information on Browns Foundry Company, Walter MacFarlane and Company, and Lion Foundry from Grace's Guide to British Industrial History, accessed 05/03/21 from https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/
Information on Blackpool shelters by Lion Foundry and Walter MacFarlane, from Scottish Ironwork Foundation, accessed 05/03/21 from https://ironworks.scran.ac.uk/database/results.php?QUICKSEARCH=1&search_term=blackpool
Information on Blackpool's former tram shelters, accessed 05/03/21 from https://blackpooltram.blogspot.com/2020/07/
Information on Blackpool's former tram shelters, accessed 05/03/21 from https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5048204

Other
Wilson, R, 'The Siamese Promenade Shelters' (Conservation Statement), 2019.

End of official list entry